Happy World Emoji Day 2018!

Main image courtesy of Daniel Bussius Consulting.

Emoji
any of various small images, symbols, or icons used in text fields in electronic communication (as in text messages, e-mail, and social media) to express the emotional attitude of the writer, convey information succinctly, communicate a message playfully without using words, etc.

Today is considered World Emoji Day, and because of that, I wanted to fill you in on some insightful facts behind the symbols that have taken over the world. While some may roll their eyes at the thought of emojis becoming a serious form of communication, the truth is they have transformed the way generations talk to one another through text messages and social media.

Shocking Stats:

• 5 billion emojis are sent daily on Facebook Messenger
• Emojis have been around in some capacity since 1999, but didn’t become popular until 2012 when Apple came out with their iOS 6 phone
• By 2015, half of all comments on Instagram included an emoji symbol
• The most popular emojis on Emojipedia in 2017 were:
  • Person Shrugging
  • Face With Tears of Joy
  • Red Heart
  • Smiling Face With Heart-Eyes
  • Thinking Face
  • Fire
  • Smiling Face With Smiling Eyes
  • Face Blowing a Kiss
  • Thumbs Up

Although some may overlook emojis and their ability to aid in digital communication today, it’s not too surprising that they are relied upon so heavily. Images can, for the most part, cross languages and help bridge the gap where words may fall short. Humans process images up to 60,000 times faster than words, which is why platforms such as Instagram are so popular on a global scale.

While emojis can be misused, taken out of context, and shrugged off as a generational shortcut to communicating; in the right light, they should be appreciated for the part they’ve played in helping shape our communication beyond the boundaries of language, geographical locations and digital platforms.