Tone indicators, also known as tone tags, are defined as paralinguistic signifiers used to help readers comprehend the emotion or intent of a statement in online spaces such as Twitter, Tiktok, Discord and Reddit, among others. They appear at the end of a post or comment as a slash mark with a letter (or letters) following immediately after. The letters used in the tag correspond with a meaning from a list of commonly acknowledged tones and intents. Here are a few examples of common tone indicators being used.
According to a survey conducted among 50 students, 66% of them had never heard of a tone indicator before being asked. 26% of students already used tone indicators, and 8% recognized the term but did not fully understand it. By the end of the explanation they were given, 66% said that they would start (or continue) using tone indicators, and 26% said they would use tone indicators if someone they were communicating with asked them to. Only 8% of students surveyed said they would not consider using tone indicators at all.
Because tone indicators serve to minimize miscommunications in otherwise ambiguous statements, they can be especially helpful for some neurodivergent individuals who may have trouble comprehending tone without the added help of being able to hold a conversation face-to-face. Tone indicators can replace some physical visual cues in an online setting.
“In person, I can generally tell when someone is joking around or being sarcastic, but if it’s over text, it’s a lot harder to tell if someone is joking,” senior Mars Dasher said. “[In person, one of the biggest signals of intent is] body language. If someone is acting more standoffish, arms crossed, stuff like that, you can generally tell that they may be upset, but if they’re joking around, their arms are flailing around, you’re like, okay, this person is joking.”
However, this does not mean that tone indicators are useless to neurotypical people. Anybody who has a hard time discerning emotions through the virtual world can benefit from the use of these tools.
A full list of commonly accepted tone tags can be found here: https://toneindicators.carrd.co/#masterlist
