Hollerings | Digital & IT

It’s World Emoji Day ?

Poop Emoji Cookie

Emojis are a key part of any millennials digital communication so what better way to celebrate our use of universally recognised images than with World Emoji Day!

Today we celebrate all of our favorite crying faces 😭, dancing ladies 💃, aubergine 🍆 and love heart 💕 emojis but where did they come from?

History of the Emoji

The very first concept of the modern day Emoji came from Professor Scott Fahlman in 1982. Scott initially created the smiling 🙂 and frowning 🙁 face in order to help people distinguish jokes from serious posts on a message board at Carnegie Mellon University.

You can find more information about the origin here

As the internet and digital communication has boomed the use of Emojis has skyrocketed. Emojis have now become a key part of millennials language, with an image for every feeling and occasion! 

Our favourite Emojis

Each year the number of Emoji’s available increases, with much more than the standard facial expressions now on offer. Since the official release of Emoji in 1995 the official number of Emoji available has increased from 76 to 3019.

We all have our favourite emoji and whilst it is challenging to know the true use of emoji through texts and emails, there are some clear winners across social media.

  1. Face with tears of joy – 😂
  2. Loudly crying face – 😭
  3. Heart eyes – 😍
  4. Red heart – ❤️
  5. Backhand index pointing right – 👉

If you want to track real time usage of Emoji across Twitter take a look at emojitracker.

Crossing language barriers

Emojis are loved by all because of their universal meanings. Regardless of language, you can explain how you feel to anyone with just a couple of Emojis. 

Many people utilise the face emojis to bring back the visual expressions into digital communications. Whether you are chatting across countries or expressing reactions to sudden situations emojis can be a helping hand to get your feelings across.

Take a look at this first hand account of how Emojis can remove language barriers. 

Lost in Translation

We have all been there before, you send an emoji meaning one thing and get a very different response. As digital communications cross cultural boundaries meanings can be lost. 

Perhaps sending a crying emoji 😭 you are just crying with laughter but this could also mean you were upset, sometimes depending on your generation can define how you look at certain emoji 🍆 …

As Emojis become increasingly prevalent in digital communication, new laws are being created. Check out how to use Emojis safely here.

Written by: Rosie Bancroft

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