I’ve written about cool symbols’ meaning before, including the difference between a symbol that’s used to convey meaning and one that’s used as an accent. But sometimes people use symbols in their bios (and other social text) without realizing what those symbols mean.
In this post, I want to give you some context for how to interpret decorative symbols like hearts and stars, so you’ll know what they can suggest — but not necessarily what they mean.
Symbols That Convey Meaning
First of all, there are symbols that actually do convey meaning. For example, if you see a symbol that looks like a heart, it might be conveying the idea of love. If you see a star, it could be indicating something celestial, or it could be indicating something excellent. And if you see an infinity symbol, it could be conveying the idea of endlessness.
Those symbols are typically used in a way that makes their meanings pretty clear, such as in the caption below…
∞ things to learn
And that’s because the words surrounding the symbol make its meaning pretty clear. So if you’re using symbols like these in your bios, captions, or display names, just be aware that they will have very specific meanings, and you don’t want to use them unless you intend to convey exactly that meaning.
Symbols As Accents
But then there are also symbols that are used as accents. These are usually decorative elements that support the mood, style, personality, or emotion conveyed by the rest of the text. They’re usually used in moderation, and often they’re used to add a little flair, whimsy, or charm.
For example, here’s a bio from a user who has “♡” in her bio.
Now, the words around the symbol tell us that she uses that symbol to indicate affection. It’s part of a heading that says “Heart Symbols,” and the original suggestion was “♡ people I love.” The heart symbol is a great choice for someone who wants to show affection in a very explicit way. But even though she uses that symbol in her bio, it doesn’t mean that she only loves people. There may be things she loves that aren’t people, and we can still read the symbol as an indication of affection without assuming that it refers to romance.
That said, it’s important to remember that people may interpret the same symbol differently. So while I might think that someone who uses a heart symbol is affectionate, another person might think that someone who uses a heart symbol is romantic. Or maybe they might think that someone who uses a heart symbol is sentimental. So when you choose a symbol to go along with your words, consider what mood, style, personality, or emotion you want to convey, and pick a symbol that supports that intended reading.
So if you wanted to convey a more whimsical tone, you might look at the “Stars Symbols” collection.
Or perhaps you’d prefer something more celestial. For example, you could copy ✦ from the stars collection and use it in “✦ small joys” as a decorative accent. Or you could use ☾, which appears in a combination labeled “stellar,” in something like “☾ night notes” for a more celestial feel.
The point is that the symbol itself isn’t going to establish that you believe in astrology, or that you’re into stargazing, or that you’re spiritual. It’s just a decoration. But again, the words surrounding the symbol will help you decide which symbol to use. If you want to convey something small and simple, you might go with something like this… ☆
If you want to convey something more elaborate, you might go with something like this… ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
Of course, it’s possible that you might combine two or more symbols, especially if you’re creating a name or a caption. In fact, there’s a whole collection of combinations labeled “stellar”.
Again, the key is to consider the mood, style, personality, or emotion you want to convey, and then choose a symbol (or combination of symbols) that supports that intended reading.
Other Decorative Symbols
There are also other decorative symbols that are used in bios and captions, but they usually don’t have a specific meaning. Rather, they’re used to support the mood, style, personality, or emotion conveyed by the rest of the text. For example, the infinity symbol is usually associated with math, so it’s grouped with other mathematical symbols on our site. But it’s also commonly used as an accent in bios, captions, etc.
When using the infinity symbol, it’s helpful to include a caption that suggests the idea of endlessness, such as…
∞ things to learn
∞ things to do
∞ things to try
∞ things to eat
∞ things to discover
These examples are just a few possibilities, but the key is that the words surrounding the symbol should invite the reader to interpret it as representing endlessness, rather than trying to establish that the person is in a relationship with someone else.
Readability Is Key
As always, the most important thing is to keep your message readable. If you’re going to use any symbols, use only one or two accents, and keep the rest of your text readable and recognizable. Use symbols to support your message, but never let them overshadow the actual message. Symbols can look different depending on where you paste them, so check how the text looks in your bio, caption, or display name before you save it.
To find out how to place symbols in your bios, captions, or display names, check out our existing styling guide.