World Emoji Day 2025: How Emojis Evolved And Changed The Way People Communicate

NDTV

16-07-2025

In today's digital age, emojis have become an essential part of our day-to-day communication. Whether you're using platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp or others, emojis have gained widespread popularity for conveying emotions. These tiny digital icons have transcended language barriers, allowing us to communicate more effectively. From expressing joy to conveying sadness, emojis have become an indispensable tool in modern-day conversations. Thus, to celebrate these humble characters, the world celebrates Emoji Day on July 17 every year.
World Emoji Day, established by Jeremy Burge, the founder of Emojipedia, honours these essential elements of digital communication. Interestingly, the day July 17 was chosen because that is the date shown on most calendar emoji.
Evolution of emojis
Emojis are also called pictographs, logograms, ideograms or smileys. This visual mode of text messaging traces its roots back to the 1980s, when computer scientists Scott Fahlmamn suggested that emoticons like ":-) and :-(" can potentially replace language. Then, in 1999, a Japanese designer created the first set of emojis for a mobile company, leading to their global adoption.
In 2007, a software internationalisation team at Google petitioned the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit organisation that maintains text standards across computers, to recognise emojis.
Fast forward to 2011, emojis were everywhere. It began gaining popularity worldwide after Apple added an official emoji keyboard to iOS, making them accessible in many countries. Since then, emojis have continued to evolve and expand to include representations of people, cultures, different skin tones, genders and family structures.
Today, emojis have transformed simple text-based messages into expressive exchanges. Thousands of emojis are available, representing everything from animals to food to flags. The most used emojis include the 'red heart', 'fire' and 'loudly crying face'.
Why is World Emoji Day celebrated?
In the era of social media, emojis play a significant role on platforms like Instagram, X, Facebook, and WhatsApp. They not only influence our daily lives but also enhance communication by allowing us to express feelings without words. Emojis have a cultural impact, conveying various emotions, concepts, and ideas, with meanings that can vary based on context and culture. These tiny digital icons enable us to communicate more effectively.