Some of the 2018 new emojis
Courtesy of Apple

Are Emojis the World’s First Universal Language?

Imagine archaeologists finding a set of emojis 1000 years from now in a buried time capsule. Or, picture visitors from faraway galaxies stumbling on Earth’s emoji language.

What would they think of us as they looked over this strange range of pictorial symbols?

What kind of culture does this pictorial language represent?
Emojipedia

These time travelers would surely gain some interesting clues to culture and language in the digital age of the early 2000s.

They would know that we humans have a range of emotions 😀🤔😁☹️, not to mention diverse looks 👶🏾👶🏻👶🏼👶🏿. And they might gain an awareness of the variety in our foods, activities, landscapes, animals, and plants.

Emojis represent many different cultures.
Emojipedia

They might also scratch their head (or heads) for a moment trying to understand why we might need a picture of a lobster, safety pin, abacus, tooth, or toilet paper roll to punctuate our social media messaging.

And they might be surprised that, as of 2018, we had 2,862 approved emojis that were being used across cultures in a kind of universal language to add visual drama to our everyday messages.

No shortage of hand signals, in all skin tones
Emojipedia

Why Emojis?

Emojis originated in Japan as part of mobile telephone communication systems. The word comes from the Japanese words e, meaning picture, and moji, meaning written character.

The invention spread quickly through the world of social media, supplying the non-verbal clues that are missing in digital communication.

People wanted to add color to their messages or add emotion and “tone of voice” to words written hastily (mostly with thumbs). Since today’s communication is often less and less face-to-face,  the insertion of emojis added a new-world touch of emotive depth.

A simple way to express emotion
Emojipedia

In fact, emojis are sometimes so powerful that just a picture suffices.

No text needed here!
Emojipedia

Emojis Across Cultures

Though emojis vary from platform to platform and the popularity of different emojis varies across cultures, emojis are international—with enough global acceptance to become the world’s first universal language.

Every possible subject
Emojipedia

More than 90% of the world’s social media users express themselves with emojis, but usage varies by country. In most countries, the population adds emojis to their text less than 25% of the time. The emoji winners: The U.S. and Trinidad. Citizens of these countries use emojis in their messaging from 51–75% of the time.

The smiling face with heart eyes is among the most popular emojis around the world, and each platform has its own version.

The major platforms each have their personally designed set of emojis.
Emojipedia

The way love and happiness are expressed across cultures also varies. Canada goes with one heart. New Zealand prefers two hearts. The smiley face crosses cultures, but the U.S., U.K., Trinidad, and Jamaica all prefer to laugh until the tears roll down 😂.

The interpretation of some emojis varies by culture and by age group.

The eggplant emoji 🍆 is not just a vegetable among 18–24 year olds. Its sexual connotation with younger folks is also prevalent among all ages in Trinidad, Tobago, and the U.K.

The folded hands emoji means please or thank you in Japan, but can be interpreted as praying or clapping by other cultures 🙏.

The poop emoji is sometimes mistaken for chocolate ice cream 💩 (uh oh), but, as poop, is one of the most popular emojis in Ireland.

Just like any communication system, the emoji language is open to interpretation.

2018 added superheroes and supervillains.
Emojipedia

The New Emojis

This year, 157 new emojis were released by the Unicode Consortium, the organization that regulates emojis.

So, who made the cut this year?

It was the year of the redhead … and also the bald head, as faces with red hair and shiny heads were added (along with a set of curly haired folks) in all skin tones. Perhaps attempts at diversity in future years will replace the “color me whatever” approach with a variety of facial features that better represent ethnicity.

Bald is beautiful.
Emojipedia

There were just a few new faces, as there are already so many emotions to choose from—but the “partying face” and the “woozy face” (the after-party face?) were added, as well as a slightly ambiguous “pleading face.” Supervillains and superheroes also made their debut.

There was a nod to climate change with the hot face and cold face and a tribute to science with a petri dish, test tube, microbe, lab coat, and DNA symbol.

Continued progress in the science sector, with a test tube, petri dish, and some DNA
Emojipedia

Only one new fruit made the cut (the tropical mango, which purportedly has legions of fans) and only one new vegetable (a basic leafy green). Cupcake and bagel finally made the list. Salt was added, but where was pepper (was the pepper lobby too complacent)?

The mango and a leafy green were added this year to the robust fruit and vegetable section.
Emojipedia

The fauna newbies were an interesting mix from wild and wooly animals (hippo, llama, and kangaroo) to the raccoon, parrot, and lobster. A special tribute was paid to the mosquito since this species has been in the news of late (as a culprit in passing the Zika virus).

An assortment of new 2018 emojis
Emojipedia

If you have an emoji bursting from your imagination, you are able to lobby for it through the EmojiRequest organization. Some of their success stories include “Hush,”“Exploding Head,” and “Vomiting” (why not?).

Hush, Exploding Head, and Vomiting
Emojipedia

You are also able to see what is trending in emojiland at Emojitracker. You may be surprised at how many emojis are used per second in the world. As of today’s writing, the winner was tears of joy 😂, with more than 2 billion uses.

This interesting live research can be a global look at how the planet is feeling, at least the part of the planet that uses emojis. (Is there a preponderance of happy faces today or sad faces—tears of sorrow or tears of joy?)

Oh, I See (😮👁👓): A Universal Language is Born

Emojis are now a common part of our messaging life around the world. On any given day, more than six billion emojis are sent globally.

These picture symbols, without grammar or set vocabulary, may not meet the strict definition of “language.” And, the meaning of an emoji may vary depending on the culture and context.

Clearly, though, emojis offer an increasingly universal language that fits our global, digital communication.

However that makes you feel, 🤗😠😴, their use does provide a contemporary way to communicate across cultures.

Who knows where emojis will take us next?
Emojipedia

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

For more information about emojis, visit Unicode and Emojipedia.

All emojis, except those in the eighth image, are designed by Apple®. Emoji data via HighSpeedInternet.com.