MFT: THYSELF - Emoji Emotion Tracking Browser Extension

Thyself is a Chrome browser extension developed by Whole Technology Co. This application is one of the most creative uses of emojis in the modern applications. It goes beyond mere gimmickry to being just a handy tool for the cause. The purpose of Thyself extension is to track the user's mood with an assistance of emojis and as a result help to develop a better understanding of one's emotional intelligence and subsequently motivate to improve the quality of emotional intelligence skills.

The idea is that modern life give little to no time to contemplate and comprehnd what is going on emotion-wise. And that takes a toll on the user himself and people surrounding him. Thyself is a kind of very basic tool to analyze the emotional state and find ways to improve your reacting to things and determing your mood. In a way, it is a chance to reflect on how you react to thing and how comprehend how are you feeling.

Over the time, the chosen emojis pile up and you get rather fascinating picture of your emotional dynamics through the day and further. Given the fact that surfing through The Internet and going through life in general is rather underwhelming and at time utterly frustrating and emotionally draining experience - this tool definitily may come in handy at least as a measuring stick.

Here's how it works. Every once in a while (three hours) the user's flow is interrupted by the Thyself tab that asks user to determine his mood with a very straightforward question "How Am I feeling?". Such an extended time periods are intentionally conceived to make user forget about the extension and do his own things long enough only to be caught out of the blue with "How Am I feeling?". This way the answer means more. In addition to that, Thyself's "out of nowhere" tactics are designed to minimize user's ability to overthink the results.

The selection of emojis is broad enough to cover every basic emotional state imaginable. The descriptions are purely practical and you barely if ever even stumble to think which emoji to choose - it comes out very intuitive. Then you can look at the stats on the personal dashboard and see the dynamics of you had emotions throughout the day and further.

I have used this extension for a whole day and it was a fascinating experience. My morning hours are usually very positive and tightly focused on getting into the groove. But then wear and tear kicks in and three hours later I felt like I'm in the full-on grind mode. Three more hours later this feeling got an additional layer of awkwardness and disengagement. I've noticed an unhealthy amount of automatism in my routine. Three more hours later it was all numb final stretch. It was "not ready to give up but not really giving a damn". I have never thought about my day in that manner and it was very insightful.

You can also use this application to build some sort of an emotion description-only time-based narrative. It is a kind of abstraction that let's the reader to fill-in the gaps or identify himself with the emotional layout of the timetable. The reader can build his own stories based on those layouts or channel his own experiences and contemplate about the way certain events affect mood.

Overall, Thyself is a good emotional intelligence tool that gives the most important thing - a chance to reflect and put things into the perspective.