Improve Your Online Body Language With The ๐ Eyes Emoji And 15 Other ๐ค Awesome Body Emojis
Actress Mae West famously said, “I speak two languages, body and English.” Body language is a language all on its own, and it’s sometimes even stronger than verbal communication! Have you tried talking to someone with shifty eyes, think 👀 Eyes emoji, and you were so bothered by their eyes that you couldn’t pay attention to what they were saying?
Importance Of Body Language
Photo from Research Digest
Actions speak louder than words. Your tone of voice, gesture, and movement all send out an important message. If you want to communicate with others effectively, if you’re going to earn the trust of people, you need to know how to interpret body language — posture, hand gestures, facial expressions, etc.
Reading body language will help you pick up on unspoken issues or feelings other people might have but don’t want to say out loud. It is truly a grand way to enhance face-to-face communication, but have you ever thought, what about if you’re not talking face to face? What would body language be like in the digital world?
Living In A Digital World
Photo from Rochester Institute Of Technology
No one can deny that we’ve become a generation almost entirely dependent on technology. We communicate on the World Wide Web far more than we ever have. People are comfortable emailing, texting, and sending messages through Facebook at all times. But have you noticed many of us cringe at the idea of making one phone call? A whole additional set of social skills is developing, and many of them are digital.
You bet, the Internet has drastically changed the way we communicate! Since body language and verbal tone do not translate in our emails and text messages, we’ve developed alternate ways to convey nuanced meaning. The most prominent change to our online style has been the addition of the New Age language, most popularly known as emoji.
Eyes Emoji And Other Body Emojis Reduce Ambiguity
Photo from PNGITEM
In the online world, emojis are the body language of words. The words we type are the words we would say in real life, while emojis help describe things that can’t be written. Millions of times each day, these small digital images are used to create nonverbal cues to reduce ambiguity, such as making sure someone knows you’re only teasing or conveying a tone lost in digital communication.
Over the years, more and more body emojis have been approved for publication by the Unicode Consortium, the governing body that regulates emojis worldwide. By doing so, the Unicode has made body language more accessible and more realistic to online users, improving the way people communicate through electronic means.
Knowing this, let’s go over some more popular body parts or body emojis and study how we can use them to better communicate with people online.
Eyes Emoji
An emoji version of shifty eyes or the action of side-eyeing the 👀 Eyes emoji shows a pair of oval-shaped eyes with pupils glancing slightly to the left.
The 👀 Eyes emoji is one of the more controversial emojis out there. Some people interpret the 👀 Eyes emoji as a form of “shifty eyes,” or the look on a person’s face when conveying a deceitful act. Some people also call the 👀 Eyes emoji “pervy eyes,” or the expression you give when a hot person is walking down the street.
Other uses of the emoji are to draw attention to something or to highlight something, especially in situations involving drama or interpersonal tension. Still not clear on how to use the 👀 Eyes emoji? In addition to what we’ve mentioned, the 👀 Eyes emoji represents the word “oooh,” or other animated expressions of interest. If you want to reply “ooh,” feel free to reply with 👀 and you’ll get the same point across.
How to use the 👀 Eyes emoji:
Woman 1: Did you see the bikini pics I posted in my Tinder account?
Woman 2: 👀
Anne : 👀
Karen: What?
Anne: Did you notice there’s someone else in our Skype group that appeared just as we were talking?
Tongue Emoji
An illustration of an open, smiling mouth with a pink tongue sticking out.
Far less controversial than the 👀 Eyes emoji, people use the 👅 Tongue emoji as a childish act of defiance, often seen when someone wants to joke around online or is in a goofy mood. If you’re still unsure of how it should appear in a sentence, if you’d like to make fun of something someone has said or done, or if you want to reply to something funny, the 👅 Tongue emoji will get the job done!
How to use the 👅 Tongue emoji:
You lost your bet! 👅 Utah Jazz won the NBA finals!
Got to the candy store earlier than you 👅
Nail Polish Emoji
The 💅 Nail Polish emoji is an image of colored nail polish being applied on one fingernail of a human hand. Frequently seen in a lot of social media messages, the 💅 Nail Polish emoji contains five color variations, 💅🏻 Light Skin Tone Nail Polish emoji, 💅🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Nail Polish emoji, 💅🏽 Medium Skin Tone Nail Polish emoji, 💅🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Nail Polish emoji, and 💅🏿 Dark Skin Tone Nail Polish emoji.
The 💅 Nail Polish emoji conveys feelings of nonchalance or indifference.
How to use the 💅 Nail Polish emoji:
Girl: I am not counting this year towards my age. I did not use it 💅 Are you with me?
Friend: Yeah, me too!
Oncoming Fist Emoji
Containing a more positive tone than the other body emojis on our list like the 👀 Eyes emoji or 👅 Tongue emoji, the 👊 Oncoming Fist emoji shows the front angle of a human hand in a fist position. This emoji contains five color variations, 👊🏻 Light Skin Tone Oncoming Fist emoji, 👊🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Oncoming Fist emoji, 👊🏽 Medium Skin Tone Oncoming Fist emoji, 👊🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Oncoming Fist emoji, and 👊🏿 Dark Skin Tone Oncoming Fist emoji.
The 👊 Oncoming Fist emoji works as a form of encouragement, as a plain greeting or a congratulatory greeting.
How to use the 👊 Oncoming Fist emoji:
Man 1: After staying up all night for the presentation, I am confident we can get this client to sign up for us. What do you say? Put one in 👊
Man 2: 👊 Yeah, bro, let’s do this! See you at the office later!
Raised Fist Emoji
The ✊ Raised Fist emoji is a picture of a human hand facing forward in a fist position held up in the air. This symbol has five skin tone variations, ✊🏻 Light Skin Tone Raised Fist emoji, ✊🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Raised Fist emoji, ✊🏽 Medium Skin Tone Raised Fist emoji, ✊🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Raised Fist emoji, and ✊🏿 Dark Skin Tone Raised Fist emoji.
This emoji implies power; it is used to stand up for what you believe in or when you want to support an action or cause. The ✊ Raised Fist emoji was widely used in the 1960’s Black Power Movement and experienced a resurgence when it became a symbol for the Black Lives Matter movement.
If you want to fist bump to the left or to the right of the person you’re speaking to online, feel free to use the 🤜 Right Facing Fist or 🤛 Left Facing Fist, they have the same meaning as the ✊ Raised Fist emoji, and they come in the same skin color variations.
How to use the ✊ Raised Fist emoji:
Black people are being brutalized by police every day. I call everyone on my Facebook account to join the protest to end police brutality and to demand racial justice! ✊ Black Lives Matter ✊
Mass testing is the key to defeating Covid-19 ✊ Sign my petition to demand mass testing ✊
Woman Dancing Emoji
If you’re on social media, or if you have a lot of social media accounts, it would be downright impossible to miss this tiny little lady doing her thing. Many have been amused by the cute 💃 Woman Dancing emoji, a picture of a woman dancing in a red dress.
A symbol that amused several netizens, the 💃 Woman Dancing emoji comes in five choices of skin tone, 💃🏻 Light Skin Tone Woman Dancing emoji, 💃🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Woman Dancing emoji, 💃🏽 Medium Skin Tone Woman Dancing emoji, 💃🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Woman Dancing emoji, and 💃🏿 Dark Skin Tone Woman Dancing emoji.
If you’re a guy and you wanna do a little salsa, the emoji world’s got a cute little symbol for you, too! The 🕺 Man Dancing emoji shows a man in a suit grooving to the music in a “Stayin’ Alive” dance position. This emoji also comes in five different skin tones.
The 💃Woman Dancing emoji and the 🕺 Man Dancing emoji are both usually used to show fun or positive affirmation!
How to use the 💃 Woman Dancing emoji:
Congrats on being named the batch valedictorian! Let’s go out and celebrate after the graduation ceremonies 💃What do you say? 💃
How did you find the midterm exam? I’m sure you had a blast, and you were just 💃 in your head while answering it.
Ear Emoji
The 👂 Ear emoji is an illustration of a part of the human body responsible for hearing called the ear. It comes in five skin tone variants, 👂🏻 Light Skin Tone Ear emoji, 👂🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Ear emoji, 👂🏽 Medium Skin Tone Ear emoji, 👂🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Ear emoji, and 👂🏿 Dark Skin Tone Ear emoji.
The 👂 Ear emoji is used to symbolize the act of listening to something or someone. It also symbolizes the act of paying close attention. Instead of saying, “I will listen carefully to what you’re about to say,” or “I can hear you,” you can just use the 👂 Ear emoji.
How to use the 👂 Ear emoji:
Sorry, I didn’t get to hear your story about your adventures in Morocco, we can talk about it now 👂
I am ready for the meeting! The connection is great over here 👂
Nose Emoji
We can’t be talking about other body part emojis and not include the nose. The nose, along with our eyes and our mouths, are the facial points of our appearance, and in many ways, our identity.
As for the nose in animated form, the 👃 Nose emoji, it looks similar to how noses look like in real life and comes in various skin tones to match the complexion of the sender or the recipient of the 👃 Nose emoji. The five skin tone choices are 👃🏻 Light Skin Tone Nose emoji, 👃🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Nose emoji, 👃🏽 Medium Skin Tone Nose emoji, 👃🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Nose emoji, and 👃🏿 Dark Skin Tone Nose emoji.
The 👃 Nose emoji conveys the action of smelling or is used to indicate something that smells.
How to use the 👃 Nose emoji:
Man: Did you notice anything in the conference room during the meeting earlier?
Office mate : 👃
Man: I know, right! Nasty! Maybe the people at the previous meeting left something in the room.
There’s a coffee shop near my apartment, and I can 👃 the coffee from my bedroom window!
Flexed Biceps Emoji
The 💪 Flexed Biceps emoji is an image of a human arm in a bent position. The arm is showing off his or her bicep muscle. This emoji is used to express everything related to working out like bodybuilding, fitness, sports, etc.
As one of the most popular symbols of strength in the world, the 💪 Flexed Biceps emoji is also used to represent ambitions, perseverance, and mental toughness. The emoji appears in five choices of skin tone, 💪🏻 Light Skin Tone Flexed Biceps emoji, 💪🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Flexed Biceps emoji, 💪🏽 Medium Skin Tone Flexed Biceps emoji, 💪🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Flexed Biceps emoji, and 💪🏿 Dark Skin Tone Flexed Biceps emoji.
How to use the 💪 Flexed Biceps emoji:
Finished five articles today 💪
Taking on a new hobby or a new task at work can be scary, but we must not pay attention to that. We’ve got to be fearless 💪
Clapping Hands Emoji
The 👏 Clapping Hands emoji is an image of two hands facing one another with small rays above it. The rays represent a clapping action. This emoji is often used in a celebratory manner, to show joy, pride, or surprise. The 👏 Clapping Hands emoji comes in 5 color variations, 👏🏻 Light Skin Tone Clapping Hands emoji, 👏🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Clapping Hands emoji, 👏🏽 Medium Skin Tone Clapping Hands emoji, 👏🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Clapping Hands emoji, and 👏🏿 Dark Skin Tone Clapping Hands emoji.
How to use the 👏 Clapping Hands emoji:
Saw how you replied to that troll yesterday who kept on bashing our pro-life stance 👏
Got the feedback from our client yesterday, they loved the social media campaign you conceptualized for their brand 👏
Crossed Fingers emoji
A picture of a human hand with the middle and index finger extended and crossed over each other. The 🤞 Crossed Fingers emoji is used to wish someone luck or to show hope for something. The 🤞 Crossed Fingers emoji comes in 5 color variations, 🤞🏻 Light Skin Tone Crossed Fingers emoji, 🤞🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Crossed Fingers emoji, 🤞🏽 Medium Skin Tone Crossed Fingers emoji, 🤞🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Crossed Fingers emoji, and 🤞🏿 Dark Skin Tone Crossed Fingers emoji.
How to use the 🤞 Crossed Fingers emoji:
Let’s 🤞 that the vaccine from pharma giant AstraZeneca will be what we’ve all been waiting for. Here’s hoping it will help us return safely to normal life!
My online job interview for the marketing position went well! 🤞 I get the job!
Love You Gesture Emoji
Shy about saying “I love you”? The 🤟 Love You Gesture emoji can help you with that! The 🤟 Love You Gesture emoji is an image of a human hand with its pinky finger, thumb, and index fingers raised. Did you know that this particular gesture also means “I love you,” in American sign language?” Isn’t that neat!
You can say “I love you,” in distinct skin tones, too. This emoji comes in five color variations to suit you and the receiver’s skin tones. The variations are 🤟🏻 Light Skin Tone Love You Gesture emoji, 🤟🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Love You Gesture emoji, 🤟🏽 Medium Skin Tone Love You Gesture emoji, 🤟🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Love You Gesture emoji, and 🤟🏿 Dark Skin Tone Love You Gesture emoji.
How to use the 🤟 Love You Gesture emoji:
Wife: Don’t forget to put your passport in your briefcase when you leave for your business trip later 🤟
Folded Hands Emoji
Symbols are powerful. Some symbols can inspire, encourage, or even uplift. A good example of this is the 🙏 Folded Hands emoji, an illustration of hands pressed together for religious prayer. The 🙏 Folded Hands emoji expresses feelings of spirituality, hope, and praise. In Japan, the praying hands position also means “thank you” and can also convey pleading, asking for something, or desiring an outcome.
The 🙏 Folded Hands emoji comes in 5 color variations to to match the skin tone of the sender and recipient of the emoji, they are 🙏🏻 Light Skin Tone Folded Hands emoji, 🙏🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Folded Hands emoji, 🙏🏽 Medium Skin Tone Folded Hands emoji, 🙏🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Folded Hands emoji, and 🙏🏿 Dark Skin Tone Folded Hands emoji.
How to use the 🙏 Folded Hands emoji:
Saw how hard you prepared for your test today. 🙏 everything goes well!
As a family, we really did everything we could to help uncle Jim prepare for his operation. Now it is in God’s hands 🙏
Person In Lotus Position Emoji
With all that’s happening in the world nowadays, we often forget to relax. When your feelings seem too overwhelming, and the stress of the world is too much to bear, the 🧘 Person In Lotus Position emoji lets us know it’s okay to take a break once in a while. The emoji shows a genderless individual in a Lotus Position, a popular pose in Yoga. In the illustration, the person has her /his legs crossed, with their feet resting on both thighs.
The 🧘 Person In Lotus Position emoji appears in topics related to Yoga, meditation, and relaxation. The emoji has a male variant and a female variant. Brighten up your message by sending this emoji in a 🧘🏻 Light Skin Tone Person In Lotus Position emoji, 🧘🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Person In Lotus Position emoji, 🧘🏽 Medium Skin Tone Person In Lotus Position emoji, 🧘🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Person In Lotus Position emoji, and 🧘🏿 Dark Skin Tone Person In Lotus Position emoji.
How to use the 🧘 Person In Lotus Position emoji:
I know how stressed you are after that meeting, but don’t forget to relax, too! 🧘 Take a breath before reacting to him and you might see things differently.
Yoga has helped me in a big way, and I know it will help you too! 🧘 I’ve been able to calm my mind and my body especially when work or school gets the best of me.
Thumbs Up Emoji
It is impossible to not be familiar with this popular hand gesture. The 👍 Thumbs Up emoji is an online version of the thumbs-up gesture we do in actual life. Whether we do it online or offline, we often do the “thumbs up,” to express assent, approval, or encouragement in digital communications.
The 👍 Thumbs Up emoji has five different skin tones to represent the skin color of the sender or receiver. The 👍🏻 Light Skin Tone Thumbs Up emoji, 👍🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Thumbs Up emoji, 👍🏽 Medium Skin Tone Thumbs Up emoji, 👍🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Thumbs Up emoji, 👍🏿 Dark Skin Tone Thumbs Up emoji.
You’ve also got the 👎 Thumbs Down emoji, a worldly recognized symbol or disapproval or disliking. The 👎 Thumbs Down emoji comes in the same colors as the 👍 Thumbs Up emoji.
How to use the 👍 Thumbs Up emoji:
That was a great Best Man speech earlier! 👍
Thank you for sharing your insights about real estate. They’ve really helped my presentation 👍
How to use the 👎 Thumbs Down emoji:
That Netflix movie The Half Of It was so bad 👎 I slept through half of it! Get it, get it?
Sorry, but your idea to do the team-building activity online was awful 👎 Let’s wait until the pandemic is over and do it at the beach as earlier planned.
Victory Hand Emoji
In times like these, we need to take the time to celebrate our victories and relish all that we’ve accomplished. The ✌️ Victory Hand emoji helps us with that. This emoji is an image of a human hand with its middle finger and index finger raised to form a V sign. It first became popular back in the ‘60s when hippies made it popular.
The ✌️ Victory Hand emoji is often used to convey peace or victory. It comes in five unique types of skin tone, ✌🏻 Light Skin Tone Victory Hand emoji, ✌🏼 Medium-Light Skin Tone Victory Hand emoji, ✌🏽 Medium Skin Tone Victory Hand emoji, ✌🏾 Medium-Dark Skin Tone Victory Hand emoji, and ✌🏿 Dark Skin Tone Victory Hand emoji. Use these to give your message or post a more realistic effect.
How to use the ✌️ Victory Hand emoji:
I am sorry for interrupting you while you were sharing your problems. ✌️ peace?
You may be a Republican, and I may be a Democrat, but we are still friends, right? ✌️ We shouldn’t let our political opinions get between us.
That concludes our list of popular body emojis. If you’d like to go through more body emojis, such as the 👀 Eyes emoji or other hand gestures, do check out Emojiguide People And Body section to expand your knowledge!
Conclusion
Photo from Click Dimension Blog
Without a doubt, emojis help people communicate better online. But we must use them in the correct way and in the proper context, as discussed above. With the popularity of emojis increasing year after year, it would be unwise not to use them to our advantage.
Why should we use emojis? Emojis help build connections with your family, friends, and even clients because they are deemed honest expressions. When you use them, you instantly appear more honest and more authentic! Also, they’re so cute to look at!
Besides being eye-catching, emojis also give emphasis to an important message. They inject spunk and spirit into communications, overall enhancing a user’s image. So, if you really want to become a better online communicator, you know what to do! Get ready to 💃 all the way to emoji town. It’ll be a decision you won’t regret!
