Emoji

What Are Emojis and How Did They Come to Be?

Emojis are more than just cute little pictures; they’re a language in themselves, evolving from simple emoticons into complex symbols that convey emotions and ideas. Have you ever wondered how these tiny icons became such an integral part of our digital communication? Let’s dive into the fascinating history of emojis and explore their journey from humble beginnings to global popularity.

The Birth of Emojis

Back in 1982, computer scientist Scott Fahlman proposed using emoticons as a way to express emotions in text-based communication. This was a groundbreaking idea that laid the foundation for what would eventually become emojis.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japanese companies like SoftBank and DoCoMo began creating their own sets of pictographic characters to enhance mobile messaging. These early emoji were simple yet effective, paving the way for the more complex and diverse emojis we know today.

The Unicode Standard and Emoji’s Rise

Unicode played a crucial role in standardizing emojis, making them accessible across different platforms and devices worldwide.

In 2007, Google and Apple started petitioning the Unicode Technical Committee to include emoji characters. Their efforts paid off when Unicode accepted the proposal in 2010, adding over 600 new emoji characters to the standard set.

The First Official Emoji Set

Shigetaka Kurita’s creation for NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode platform is often cited as the first official emoji set. His design included facial expressions and kaomoji, which were brightly colored with a single color per glyph.

The popularity of these emojis led to the development of other notable sets in the 1990s and early 2000s, including Nokia’s presets and au by KDDI’s introduction. These sets laid the groundwork for the diverse range of emoji we see today.

Unicode Emoji: A Standardized Language

The Unicode Consortium has been instrumental in standardizing emojis, ensuring they are consistent across different platforms and devices.

In 2015, Unicode released its first approved version of the Unicode Emoji report, introducing skin tone indicators and listing zero-width joiner sequences for families and couples. This made emoji usage more inclusive and versatile.

Controversies and Cultural Nuances

While emojis have brought people closer together through their universal language, they’ve also faced controversies and cultural misunderstandings.

The eggplant (aubergine) emoji has been used as a euphemistic icon for buttocks, leading to its removal from Instagram. Similarly, the middle finger emoji sparked legal action in India due to its offensive nature.

Emoji Usage and Sentiment Analysis

Emojis have become an integral part of our digital communication, conveying emotions and adding context to messages.

A study by the University of Michigan found that the Face With Tears of Joy was the most popular emoji, used more frequently in countries like Australia and France. In contrast, people in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina used more negative emojis.

Emoji as a Language

Emojis are not just symbols; they’re a language with potential for dialects, syntax, and inversion of meanings.

A deep neural network sentiment analysis algorithm called DeepMoji was published by MIT Media Lab in 2017, which outperformed human subjects in correctly identifying sarcasm in Tweets. This highlights the growing importance of emojis in digital communication.

Emoji in Popular Culture

Emojis have made their way into popular culture, appearing in films, musicals, and television shows like Moon, Emojiland, Doctor Who, and The Emoji Movie.

The Museum of Modern Art even acquired the original collection of emoji distributed by NTT DoCoMo in 1999, recognizing their cultural significance. Drake’s sixth studio album also featured twelve emoji of pregnant women on its cover art, further cementing emojis’ place in mainstream media.

Conclusion

Emojis have come a long way from simple emoticons to becoming an essential part of our digital communication. They’ve evolved through the efforts of various companies and organizations, leading to their widespread adoption and cultural significance.