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Emoji — the most voiced language digitally
In one phrase, emoji is used by three billion people making it the most spoken and fastest-growing language in the world. Now about half of communications are done through some technology and emojis are used to add an extra layer on top of what simple words can convey — emojis are modern facial expressions, hand gestures, or depicted objects that help conduct conversations smoothly.
The above emojis are the twenty most used emojis on the internet according to Brandwatch. Emojis are not only additive elements, but rather can serve as the center of communications today. They also open up an opportunity for passive communicators to participate in conversations. According to this analytic, posts with emojis receive 47.7% more average interactions on Instagram.
In 2018, Toyota created 80 different versions of the same videos, which were about two characters with different emoji faces driving a Toyota Camry. Toyota published these as targeted ads on Twitter; they were targeted based on which emojis people have tweeted, because some emojis are a clearer way of capturing the audiences’ emotions than text messages.
“[In communication using technology], we’ve shut out the rhythm in sound of the voice, so emoji is almost a brilliant human way of replacing that. ”
— Helen Fisher, Biological Anthropologist at Rutgers University
In this entry, I explore the history of emojis, how emojis have added value to society alongside how they’ve altered they way people communicate in the modern digital products.
Where did the emoji come from?
The functional aspect of emojis resembles that of pictograms — pictograms convey a meaning through the use of a minimal iconographic shape that resembles the real object. Well-designed pictograms are easy to recognize and save screen space compared to writing a full…
