The emoji in this image is officially named ‘face screaming in fear’ – would that sum up your feelings about emojis, or are you more of a 😁 kind of person?
Today is, apparently, World Emoji Day – conveniently timed in the build-up to the upcoming Emoji Movie. You may have seen that Patrick Stewart has landed a, shall we say, ‘interesting’ role.
It’s not like emojis are anything new – I remember using them on MSN Messenger in the early 2000s. But it’s only really been since the dawn of the smartphone as an everyday device and, later, WhatsApp, that they’ve seen a real surge in popularity and usage.
In fact, many are even asking if Emoji is the fastest growing language on the internet.
It was all started by a 🐭. Happy #WorldEmojiDay! pic.twitter.com/ssVSczPj78
— Disney (@Disney) July 17, 2017
So what is it about adding these little faces to so much of our modern-day communication that has made emojis so universally popular?
Perhaps they can help lighten the mood, change the tone or, in some cases, convey thoughts and feelings you’re unable to get across through words alone?
Having said that, many will rightly point out that we got by just fine for quite a few thousand years without them – what’s changed now that we’re WhatsApping each other, rather than writing letters?
And what better day than today to get across one of my more niche grievances? Emojis display differently depending on what device you’re using.
Mental Floss, a popular culture website, once put together a list of nine emojis that look completely different on other phones – meaning that if you’ve got an iPhone, you could end up coming across completely different to how you’ve intended should your recipient own a Samsung phone.
This is especially important on social media, where tone is everything – the use of an emoji can completely change your message depending on the device it’s being viewed on 🙈
And then there’s the curious case of Emoji numbers. My Samsung phone ends up making tweets such as these rather difficult to understand!


We’d ❤️ to know how you feel about emojis – are you a regular user? Do you think they’re a fun visual aid? Or would you like to see less of them?
Of course, we already have some idea as to how some quarters of the community is going to vote. In January this year, Patrick Taylor commented:
God save us from emojis. They are very disruptive when speed reading as they break-up the letter patterns.
Whether you love them or loathe them, we’re sure everyone will have an opinion.