The history of emojis
In the digital age, our communication is increasingly moving to the online space. Messenger messages and social media posts have become an integral part of our daily routine. However, despite the convenience and speed of such communications, they often lack the emotional depth inherent in live interaction. This is where emojis and emojis come in handy, allowing us to express feelings and keep people warm in digital conversations. In this article, we'll trace the fascinating history of emojis, from the first text characters to modern graphic emojis that have become an important element of our virtual communication.
And if your child is crazy about technology, we look forward to seeing them in class at Progkids!
Early years: text emojis
When was the first virtual “smile” born?
Text emojis appeared in 1982 thanks to Scott Fahlman, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He suggested using the characters “:-)” for jokes and “:-( “for serious emails. His idea quickly caught on and became popular among his colleagues.
Emojis are coming to the world!
Text emojis became popular in the 1990s with the proliferation of email, Internet forums, and chat rooms. Users have started creating new combinations of characters to express different emotions, such as “;-)” (a playful wink) and “:-D” (a big smile).
Graphic emojis
The birth of the first emojis
In 1999, Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita created the first set of graphic emojis for Japanese telecommunications company NTT DoCoMo. The set consisted of 176 icons measuring 12 by 12 pixels. They were simple images of faces, weather, vehicles, and other objects.
Emojis are gaining popularity
Emojis quickly fell in love with Japanese people and were adopted by other telecommunications companies such as SoftBank and KDDI. They were used in text messages and mobile apps, adding emotional context to digital communication.
Emojis are taking over the planet
In 2010, the Unicode consortium incorporated emoji into its character encoding standard, allowing them to be used on a variety of platforms and devices around the world. This event was a key moment for the global spread of emoji.
Emoji, Apple and Android
Apple added emoji support to iOS in 2011, and Android devices soon followed suit. This has made emojis available to millions of users around the world.
Emoji today
For every taste and color
Today, emoji sets include thousands of symbols that represent different emotions, objects, activities, and cultural elements. The Unicode Consortium is actively working to expand its range of emojis to ensure diversity and inclusion. They add symbols that are important to different racial groups, gender identities, and people with disabilities.
Emoji as a cultural phenomenon
Emojis have become not only a means of communication, but also a cultural phenomenon. They are used in marketing, art, and even film. In 2015, the Oxford Dictionary even declared emoji 😂 (“face with tears of joy”) the word of the year!
Fun facts about emojis and emojis
#1 The most popular emoji in the world is 😂 (“face with tears of joy”), and in Russia it is 🔥 (“fire”).
#2 Anyone can apply for new emojis in the Unicode Consortium every year.
#3 Emoji Day is celebrated on July 17th. This date was not chosen by chance: it is the date that appears on the emoji calendar — 📆.
#4 Japanese people still love to use graphic emojis that resemble the facial expressions of anime characters, for example, this one: (◉ They sometimes look just masterpiece!
#5 There are 5 times more joyful emojis than sad ones.
#6 In India, 3737 people once got together... Guess why? All together they made a smiley face with a diameter of 43.5 meters! 😊
#7 Some emojis have different meanings in different countries, so you should use them with caution. For example, the thumb, which is considered approval in Russia, is recognized as a very rude gesture in Greece and Thailand.
#8 Emoji is dedicated to the feature film The Emoji Movie (6+), which was released in 2017.
The history of emojis is an example of how simple ideas can become popular and literally take over the planet. Cute text symbols and modern graphic emojis continue to enrich our digital communication, making it more expressive and emotional.
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