Texting habits

Emoji in texts

Texting with lots of emoji means letting 😂, 🥲 or 💛 carry the feeling: the words say what, and the emoji say how.

A free quiz: pick the reply you’d send in 12 everyday moments. About 3 minutes.

What it sounds like

Three everyday texts, each answered by a different style with emoji. Every style’s page answers the same three, so you can compare.

With a friend · A friend asks about Friday.

want to see a movie Friday?

Yes! Friday works 🍿 which movie?

The Easy Read, with emoji

With family · Your aunt mailed you a birthday present.

Did the package get there?

It came!! 😍🎁 I love it, thank you!!

The Hype Texter, with emoji

At work · A coworker missed yesterday’s meeting.

Can you send me the notes from yesterday?

Sent 👍 Shout if anything’s missing.

The Straight Shooter, with emoji

How it lands

What it does well

Emoji carry the feeling for you and keep things warm.

Where it trips

An emoji can mean different things to different people, so a 🙂 may not say what you think it does.

What one study found

In a study of 2,482 people, emoji were about as open to different readings inside a message as on their own. The text around them didn’t make them much clearer.

Miller, H., Kluver, D., Thebault-Spieker, J., Terveen, L., & Hecht, B. (2017). Understanding emoji ambiguity in context: The role of text in emoji-related miscommunication. Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, 11(1), 152–161.

One thing to try

Porcupine · a tipWhen it matters, put the feeling in words too.

Instead ofcan’t make it tonight 😭

TryCan’t make it tonight, and I’m really bummed 😭

Why it helps: Honest and hearable ›

What one study found

In two experiments about texts between partners, an emotional cue on a negative reply, especially an emoji, made the partner seem more interested. But when the issue was serious, an emoji made the reply read as more negative and the partner as less interested.

Rodrigues, D., Lopes, D., Prada, M., Thompson, D., & Garrido, M. V. (2017). A frown emoji can be worth a thousand words: Perceptions of emoji use in text messages exchanged between romantic partners. Telematics and Informatics, 34(8), 1532–1543.

If someone texts you like this

Lots of emoji usually set the tone the words leave out. Read the words first, then what the emoji add.

Read the words first

The words say what they mean. The emoji say how they mean it.

The same emoji can read differently

A 🙂 can look friendly to one person and cool to another. If one surprises you, it may not mean what you’d mean by it.

One text without them says little

If emoji drop off for a text or two, that alone says little. A change that lasts is the thing worth asking about.

If they saysure 🙂

Porcupine · a tipIf you’re not sure how a 🙂 was meant, ask about the plan, not the emoji.

You could sayGreat! Does 7 still work for you?

Free tool · What does this text mean?Got a text like this?Paste it in to see a few ways it could be read, and what you could say back. We don’t save it.Check a text

Common questions

What do lots of emoji in a text mean?

Usually that the emoji are carrying the feeling: “It came!! 😍🎁” says it arrived, and how glad they are. The words say what; the emoji say how.

Is using a lot of emoji unprofessional?

It depends on who’s reading. With people who know you, emoji often just read as warm. With someone new, especially at work, a few words can carry the tone instead.

Why does 🙂 sometimes seem passive-aggressive?

People read the same emoji differently, so a 🙂 meant as friendly can read as cool to someone else. When it matters, the feeling in words is harder to misread.

Do I use too many emoji?

There’s no right number. In the quiz, emoji show up as one of your habits when you pick replies with emoji at least 3 times out of 12, whatever your style.

What’s your texting style?

Pick the reply you’d really send in twelve everyday moments, and see your style, any habits, how it lands and one thing to try.

Find your texting style

All seven styles

The Straight ShooterYou say what you mean, and people know where they stand.
The Easy ReadClear, kind, and easy to answer.
The Hype TexterBig energy, lots of exclamation points, and you mean every one.
The Over-ApologizerYou’d rather say sorry than risk sounding rude.
The Hint DropperYou say it sideways and hope they catch it.
The Dry TexterShort, plain, done.
The ChameleonYour replies shift, and no one style stands out.

The three habits

A habit is how a text looks. It goes with any of the seven styles.

EmojiEmoji carry the feeling for you and keep things warm.
Long textsYou explain fully, so people rarely have to wonder what you think.
SarcasmA joke keeps things light, and friends who know your humor usually get it.

Just for fun, not a personality test. It describes how texts read, not who you are.