From multiple sources this morning, I received info informing me that today was World Emoji Day. I am one who frequently uses emojis, which are tiny pics of expressive faces, animals, foods and other items, when I text or post on social media. I knew I would have a blast creating a post that celebrates these fun icons.
Emojis first appeared in Japan in 1999. The 176 images were created to replace the text-based emoticons people used on their cell phones, to express emotions. As text messaging became a standard form of communication, emojis grew in popularity
Apple, the maker of the iPhone, is credited with making emoji use a global phenomenon by being the first to download them on their smart phones. The emojis, which continue to increase in number and categories, are included now on all mobile devices.
Here are Emoji fun facts:
âĸ An emoticon is an expression of emotion created with text. : – ) is a happy face, : – ( an unhappy one. Emoji, Japanese e for “picture” and moji for “character” is a pic. đ happy face, âšī¸ unhappy face.
âĸ The most popular emoji is the Tears of Joy face.
âĸ July 17 is World Emoji Day because the emoji for calendar shows that date.
âĸ Emojis are used on more than 700 million Facebook posts every day. On Facebook the most popular emojis are đ đ and đ .
âĸ More than 900 million emojis are sent daily, without any text, through Facebook Messenger.
âĸ In 2015 the đ Tears of Joy emoji was named by Oxford Dictionaries as the Word of the Year.
âĸ By mid 2015, half of all Instagram comments contained an emoji.
âĸ Apple announced Monday the release of 70 new emojis, due out this fall. They include new expressions, hair styles, animals, and foods.
I admit, I originally used emoticons in my text messages, favoring : – ) and ;-), and wholeheartedly embraced emojis when they appeared on my first smart phone. Almost every Instagram post/comment of mine contains at least one emoji. My top emojis, in texts and social media posts, are: đ â¤ī¸ đ and đ. I’ve only recently started using đ. The Trekkie side of me loves the đđŧ…the Vulcan hand sign for “live long and prosper.”
I’m a Snapchat user, because I have grandchildren on that site and they dragged me on there. Through Snapchat I’ve been introduced to bitmoji. These are cartoon-like figures that you make, avatars to represent yourself. I have to say those are fun to communicate with as well. That’s my bitmoji in my title meme above, sharing space with Sunglasses emoji, and me with Tears of Joy emoji below. It seemed an appropriate way to recognize this celebratory day.
It’s all about fun, and it’s all about communication. Happy World Emoji Day!
