 But economy of words, being able to convey tone and emotion quickly and efficiently, is also an important skill and one that the emoji prevents us from developing. And besides, as the controversy documented in the post clearly shows, the emoji creates tonal confusion of its own. Is it a passive-aggressive thumbs up or a sincere thumbs up? Is it a sarcastic smiley face or a regular smiley face? Does the OK hand sign emoji mean that everything is OK?