To love or to hate? Emojis have been dividing marketing teams since the start. From the early icons of iOS 5, through the short-live celebrity emoji era (recall the crying Kimoji?) to The Emoji film released in 2017, Emojis have become an integral part of modern communication.
They have revolutionised how we express emotions, ideas, and reactions in the digital world.
But how did Emoji’s come to be?
Origins in Japan (Late 1990s)
Emojis originated in Japan in the late 1990s, where the word “emoji” translates to “picture” (e) and “character” (moji). Shigetaka Kurita, an engineer for a Japanese mobile phone company, created the first set of 176 emojis as a way to enhance communication on early mobile devices.
Global Adoption (Early 2000s)
Emojis gained popularity in Japan and quickly spread to other countries as mobile technology advanced. In 2010, Unicode Consortium, a non-profit organisation responsible for standardising characters, included emojis in its Unicode Standard, making them accessible across different platforms and devices.
Apple’s Emoji Integration (2011)
In 2011, Apple introduced emojis into its iOS system, making them widely available to iPhone users. This move played a significant role in popularising emojis and making them more mainstream.
Emoji Diversity (2015)
In response to growing demands for more inclusive representation, the Unicode Consortium introduced diverse skin tones for emojis, allowing users to choose from a range of options to reflect different ethnicities.
Emoji Evolution (Ongoing)
Over time, emojis have continued to evolve and expand. New emojis are regularly added to the Unicode Standard to reflect societal changes, and trends, and to enhance communication possibilities. Emojis now cover a wide range of emotions, objects, activities, and cultural symbols.
Emojis have transcended digital communication and have become a part of popular culture. They have been featured in movies, advertising campaigns, and merchandise, and even have their own World Emoji Day celebrated annually on July 17th.
INSERT EXAMPLE POST FROM SR USING EMOJI’S
Should You Be Using Emojis?
Recent reports show that using emojis in a tweet can boost engagement by around 25%. On Facebook, you could see up to a 33% increase in post shares and a whopping 57% surge in interactions on your posts.
Working to catch the attention of followers, they also bring an informal and personable element to posts, which resonates increasingly over social media. Here are our top tips for using emojis for your organisation or business…
- Understand what emojis mean before posting.
- Keep it to a minimum.
- Curate a bank of emojis relevant to your account.
- Avoid using emojis to replace words. Keep them at the start or end of sentences.
What do you think about Emoji’s, are you team love or hate?
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