Provisional Order on Good Night Sticker Close

PROVISIONAL ORDER Governing the Use of Good Night Stickers as Conversation Closure Issued September 2022, Pending Further Review

WHEREAS messaging applications now provide animated sticker libraries containing images of animals, objects, and characters in states of rest, repose, and nighttime adjacency; and

WHEREAS the practice of sending a sleeping bear, a moon with closed eyes, or a cartoonish figure holding a pillow to indicate the sender's intention to conclude a conversation for the evening has increased substantially since 2020; and

WHEREAS the subject has both sent and received such stickers and has developed an opinion about them that does not resolve neatly into approval or disapproval;

THEREFORE the following provisional order is issued:

ARTICLE I: THE FUNCTION OF THE STICKER

The sticker carries the full content of the message while removing the obligation to compose the message. "Goodnight" requires typing. The sticker requires selecting. Both convey the same information. The sticker also conveys warmth, affection, and a slight playfulness that the word "goodnight" does not carry without punctuation or emoji supplementation.

The sticker ends the conversation without requiring either party to write "goodnight" a second time. The second goodnight problem is not a significant problem, but it is a real one: if one person writes "goodnight" and the other responds "goodnight!" the first person now has a new message that requires no reply but received attention was directed toward it. The sticker forecloses this.

ARTICLE II: THE CLASSIFICATION QUESTION

A question has been raised internally regarding whether the sticker constitutes a genuine communication or a communication proxy. The question is not resolved by this order. The sticker communicates something. The something is goodnight. The format is not the word goodnight. Whether this distinction carries meaningful weight is left to the discretion of the parties.

ARTICLE III: OBSERVED PATTERN

Conversations that end with a sticker close faster than conversations that end with text. The latency between the sticker and the next message, if any message arrives, is longer than the latency following a text goodnight. This suggests the sticker is effective at communicating termination in a way that text is not, or is less so.

ARTICLE IV: CURRENT STATUS

This order governs the subject's use of good night stickers until a more settled view develops. The sticker is permitted. The sticker is not required. The word "goodnight" retains its standing as a legitimate alternative.

The bear is sleeping. The conversation is closed.