History of Emojis

The History of Emojis and Growth in Their Use

Introduction

Emojis have become an integral part of modern communication, transcending language barriers

and providing a fun, engaging way to express emotions, thoughts, and ideas. These small digital images and icons have transformed the way we interact on various platforms, from social media and messaging apps to emails and forums. But where did emojis come from, and how did they become such a universal means of communication? Let's delve into the history of emojis and explore their

widespread use.

The Birth of Emojis

The roots of emojis can be traced back to the early days of digital communication, when emoticons – combinations of keyboard characters that represent facial expressions – were first used to convey emotions in typed messages. Emoticons, such as the classic smiley face :-) and frowny face :-(, emerged in the early 1980s as a way to add emotional context to plain text messages, which were

often limited in their ability to convey tone and feeling. The first true emojis, however, were created in 1999 by a Japanese artist named Shigetaka Kurita. Kurita worked for NTT DoCoMo, a mobile communication company, and was inspired to develop a set of pictograms that could be used to communicate emotions and ideas more effectively in digital form. He designed an initial set of 176 emojis, which included various facial expressions, weather symbols, and everyday objects. These emojis were first introduced on NTT DoCoMo's i-mode mobile internet platform and quickly gained popularity in Japan.

Global Expansion and Standardization

As mobile technology advanced and the use of text messaging grew in the early 2000s, the demand for more expressive communication tools led to the spread of emojis beyond Japan. In 2007, a team of Google engineers, recognizing the potential for emojis to enhance digital communication, petitioned the Unicode Consortium to incorporate emojis into the Unicode Standard. The Unicode Standard is a universal character encoding system that ensures consistent representation and

interpretation of text across different devices and platforms. In 2010, Unicode officially adopted 722 emojis, paving the way for their global expansion. With the release of Apple's iOS 5 in 2011, which included an emoji keyboard for iPhone users, emojis quickly gained traction worldwide. Today,

there are over 3,000 emojis in the Unicode Standard, with new additions introduced regularly to reflect evolving cultural trends and expressions.

The Role of Emojis in Modern Communication

Emojis have become an essential part of digital communication, offering a visually engaging way to convey emotions, ideas, and reactions. They serve various purposes, from enhancing the emotional impact of a message to providing a more concise and efficient way to express thoughts. Emojis can help to clarify the tone of a message, reducing the potential for misunderstandings in text-based communication.

In addition to their use in personal messaging, emojis have found a place in professional, communication, marketing, and advertising. Brands frequently use emojis to create a more relatable and engaging voice on social media, while advertisers often incorporate emojis in campaigns to evoke specific emotions and associations.

Growth of Emoji use over time

While specific statistics on the growth of emoji use over time can be difficult to pinpoint, various sources have reported on the rapid increase in emoji usage since their introduction in the late 1990s. Here are some key findings that highlight the growth of emoji use:

1.    Emojipedia, the leading emoji reference website, reports that emoji usage has steadily increased since Apple introduced the emoji keyboard in iOS 5 in 2011. As of 2021, there are over 3,000 emojis in the Unicode Standard, with new additions introduced regularly.

2.    According to a 2015 report by SwiftKey, a popular keyboard app, over 6 billion emojis were sent globally via mobile messaging apps daily. The same report revealed that 70% of text messages contained at least one emoji.

3.    A 2016 study by Emoji Research found that 92% of the online population used emojis in their digital communication, with over 2.3 trillion mobile messages containing emojis sent that year.

4.    In 2018, Facebook reported that users sent more than 900 million emojis without accompanying text every day on Facebook Messenger. Additionally, more than 700 million emojis were used daily in Facebook posts.

5.    A 2020 survey by Adobe showed that 83% of emoji users in the United States believed that emojis made it easier for them to express their thoughts and feelings, while 65% said that emojis made their workplace communication more enjoyable and relatable.

6.    In 2021, the Oxford English Dictionary named the 'Face with Tears of Joy' emoji as the Word of the Year, marking the first time an emoji had received the title. This selection highlighted the growing importance of emojis in modern language and communication.

These statistics indicate that emoji usage has experienced significant growth since their early days in Japan. As digital communication continues to evolve, it is expected that the use of emojis will continue to grow and diversify, becoming an even more integral part of our daily interactions.

Conclusion

From their humble beginnings as emoticons in early digital communication to their widespread

adoption in the Unicode Standard, emojis have come a long way. Today, these colorful icons continue to play a vital role in modern communication, transcending language barriers and providing an engaging, expressive way to share emotions, thoughts, and ideas. As technology continues to evolve, emojis will undoubtedly remain a significant part of our digital language, shaping the way we connect and interact with one another.