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Entity gives you 5 reasons to ditch emojis in 2017.

Whether you love them or hate them, emojis are everywhere nowadays. They decorate our couches as ironic pillows, add some quirky sass to T-shirts and, of course, fill our text messages. At times, it may seem impossible to talk to anyone without a yellow smiley face or bashful monkey joining in.

As harmless and prevelant as emojis might be, however, ditching them could be the key to having the best year of your life. Yes, really. Don’t believe me? Here’s 5 (shocking) reasons why emojis should be ditched in 2017!

1 Emojis are a universal language? Not quite.

Your boyfriend has been sending texts of the vegetable and fruit related kind – AKA, lots of eggplant and peach emojis – so when he knocks on your door on Friday night, you’re wearing your sexiest dress. Only, when you see the Trader Joe bag in his left hand and the recipe print-outs (for eggplant ravioli and peach cobbler) in his right, you know he has something else in mind.

Sound familiar? This is a simple case of miscommunication – and emojis are infamous for it. In fact, a recent study found that only “4.5 percent of emoji symbols…have consistently low variance in their sentiment interpretations.” Just think of the “face with tears of joy” emojis. While some interpret it positively, others see a negative meaning.

Read More: Texting on an iPhone Is About to Change Completely 

That same study also found that emojis differ widely across different platforms – like Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook and Mozilla – which contributes to even more confusion. Have you ever received the “Grinning Face with Smiling Eyes” emoji? Then you probably already know that has a variety of different interpretations, depending on the platform. While researchers found that it’s interpreted negatively on Apple products (at -1), it can be seen as happy or excited (at levels as high as 4) on LG or Google devices.

Basically? Emojis can be as confusing as they are cute. If you want to save yourself time – or spare yourself from misunderstanding-triggered drama – you may just want to text what you mean and not rely on smiley faces…especially if you’re boyfriend uses a different platform on his phone.

2 Emojis can kill your love life.

If you’ve ever used an online dating site or an app like Tinder, you’ve probably received your fair share of emoji-filled messages. If you want to actually get some responses, though, you should ditch certain emojis, according to Jonathan Keshishoglou at Mashable. Which ones mean an automatic ghosting? Well, sending a crystal ball to the guy you’ve been on one date with might imply that you’re already planning your house with white picket fence and the names for your 2.5 children. And a biohazard sign? Not only is that kinda weird, but no girl likes to be told she seems a little toxic. (Unless, of course, you’re comparing her to Britney Spears).

Even if you’re already in a steady relationship, emojis can cause some complications. In 2015, researchers studied the effects of using emoticons (basically, emojis’ little brother) in Facebook messages. The results? Men were more jealous when emoticons were included in messages to their significant other…while women were more jealous when emoticons weren’t included. The gender difference could originate from the different way men and women perceive cheating: women fear emotional cheating while men worry about physical infidelity.

READ MORE: The Secret Behind Why People Cheat

Whether you’re trying to find your soulmate or trying to keep him, you may want to double think sending that emoji-filled message.

3 Emojis are making a joke out of news and literature.

You probably remember the line, “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” from your high school English class. Thanks to emojis, though, this classic question has a new answer: inside the OMG Shakespeare series. The books boasts titles like YOLO Juliet, srsly Hamlet and Macbeth #killing it. As their names would suggest, these “updated” versions of Shakespeare’s classic plays use texts filled with emojis, posted photos, location check-in’s and Facebook statuses to narrate the stories. All the books also include glossaries and a list of characters for readers who aren’t “gr8” enough to follow along on their own.

But it isn’t just great literature that’s taking a hit from emojis. In 2015, USA Today made headlines…because of its emoji-filled headlines. USA Today tried out a Facebook-reaction-esque technique of putting emojis next to article headlines. While some argued that putting a “sad face” next to a story about Syria seemed flippant, USA’s Editor-in-Chief says, “Social media and its icons are becoming a dominant form of communication in our world. We wanted to show what they would be like if transferred to print.”

If Twitter is anything to go by, USA Today and OMG Shakespeare have shown that emojis just don’t work in print.

4 Emojis can get you majorly fired.

Just imagine: you’re at work, sending an email about a recently completed project to your boss when it hits you. This is great news – so why not end your email with a smiley face emoji? According to a recent survey, your boss may have varying reactions to emojis at work. Nearly four in ten senior managers thought emojis were unprofessional in workplace communications while 61% believed context was key.

Even if your boss seems like a cool dude who loves the latest techy trends, you should probably avoid these four faux pas, according to Brandi Britton, district president of OfficeTeam:

  • Ending a serious message with a smiley face…because even if you’re trying to lighten up criticism or remind workers that “everything will be okay” after a slew of lay-offs, a smiley face will probably just rub people the wrong way.
  • Sending an ambiguous emoji. Because the only thing worse than a misunderstood emoji is getting fired for one!
  • Inappropriate emojis. You (probably) don’t swear in front of your boss, so you probably shouldn’t use the poop emoji in front of them either.
  • Using an emoji that you’re not 100%  sure you know the meaning of. *Insert facepalm emoji here*
  • Peppering your emails with emojis every chance you get. Most likely, your boss hired you for your verbal and written communication skills…not how creative you can be with emojis.

As crazy as it sounds, people have been fired for emojis. Just as the Houston Rockets’ (previous) Digital Communications Manager, Chad Shanks. Soon after the Houston Rockets sent out a tweet featuring a gun and horse emoji (implicitly representing their rivals, the Mavericks), Shanks stepped down from his position.

Let’s be honest. The only worse way to start 2017 than losing your job would be getting fired for using emojis.

READ MORE: How to Cope with Being Fired

5 Emojis are destroying English language.

We saved the best reason for last: if we don’t ditch emojis in 2017, we might also be ditching a bright, eloquent future! Although many argue that emojis are simply complementing English instead of destroying the language, others see emojis as a trip back in time…and not in a good way.

Professor Vyv Evans, a linguist at Bangor University, famously compared emojis to hieroglyphics. But while the Egyptians may have done a few things right – those awe-inspiring pyramids, anyone? – culture was “static,” according to Jonathan Jones at The Guardian. “There is no ancient Egyptian Iliad or Odyssey,” he points out. “There are harsh limits on what you can say with pictures…That’s why Greece rather than Egypt leapt forward and why Shakespeare was more articulate than the Aztecs.”

Others like Manly Nerd take an even more…aggressive approach: “Basically the only thing an emoticon tells me about you is that you’re a sensitive, fun-loving person who’s helping to kill the best communication system ever invented.”

If you ever wondered about the purpose of emojis, it may be to kill off the English language and achieve world domination. One smiley face at a time, of course.

The truth is, whether you’re an emoji-lover or barely know how to type an old-fashioned emoticon, emojis have important – and often dangerous – impacts on our everyday lives. Send the wrong emoji to the wrong person, or even the right emoji to a person with the wrong device, and you may have to spend days fixing the misunderstanding. Not to mention that emoji misunderstandings can also cost you your job and your (chance at a) love life.

The idea of abandoning emojis may seem impossible considering how popular they’ve become. But there’s no better time for a lifestyle change than the start of a new year. And who knows? If you ditch emojis in 2017, you may not even need those yellow smiley faces by 2018: you’ll be too busy smiling all on your own.

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