Rebus author gets on board with emojis

Edinburgh author Ian Rankin has tickled his fans by joining the social media trend of writing in emoji symbols.

He included the yellow symbol of a sad face in his latest work, a newspaper reader’s letter decrying the effects of social media on literature. In the letter submitted to the Times newspaper, he wrote: “Sir, I read with interest Howard Jacobson’s remarks (News, Aug 21) on how social media and its conventions will kill literacy within a generation.

“All I can say is [sad face emoji].”