It is hard to believe that emoji, the symbols some of us use to form entire sentences, originated as a footnote to text messages. An emoticon of a plane, clock, and gust of wind, for example, would instantly be deciphered as a way to illustrate the expression “time flies.” It is in this way that emojis have evolved into digital words, sometimes even fully replacing vocabulary in text messages, emails or tweets. Smartphone owners will see emoji available as an optional written language, nestled between Dutch and Estonian. While it has not yet joined the ranks of full-fledged languages, its simplicity and recent popularity allows it to act as an international, common means of communication.
The use of emoji keyboard has become so popular that websites are now being created to track and analyze the use of the symbols. British tech company Swiftkey analyzed over 1 billion pieces of emoji data from communication made in 16 different languages and released a summary of the study. The report found that the French lived up to their global stereotype of romanticism, using the“ ” emoticon four times more than other language. It is also the only language in which the “J ” emoticon is not the most used. Australians, on the other hand, used double the amount of alcohol and substance abuse-related emoji than the average. While some would quickly dismiss the point of such findings, others see them as an insight into language and cultural barriers.
The versatility of emojis’ meanings is one of the reasons it has gained huge popularity. “An emoji can mean a completely different thing to completely different people,” says Nick Kendall. He is the founder of Emojicate, an app that is directed toward users who wish to communicate solely through the use of symbols. A survey found that the dancing ladies emoji was used by some respondents to express their yearning to go out for a night of dancing, while for others it meant “I’m dancing away the situation.” With so much room for interpretation, emoji can be used to profess anything from irony to emotion, elements of humanness that tend to get lost in screen-to-screen messaging.
Emoji’s limited vocabulary and lack of nuance will likely stop it from ever becoming an official language. Although the modern world has found a digital way to say “I’m happy” or “well done,” it is in no way a replacement of spoken language, but rather an expressive addition to it. The popularity of emoji does, however, mean that it will continue to play a heightened role in representing modern society. With this comes infinite opportunity, as their creators are pushed to further innovation in upcoming designs.