These Are CNET's Favorite and Most-Used Emoji. Did Yours Make the List?
The rules for voting were simple: You could only vote once for your favorite emoji and once for your most-used emoji. There was more variety in the category of favorite emoji since individual tastes are subjective, while there was more homogeneity among most used emoji -- not surprising in a work environment. But smileys dominated both lists, making up over half of the selections for favorite emoji and just under half of the selections for most used emoji.
Yes, I voted in the poll, and, no, my creative genius didn't top either of our lists.
So without further ado, here are some of CNET's favorite and most used emoji and what those emoji mean.
2 emoji were tied for our favorite, and the vibe is 'everything's fine'
CNET staffers' favorite emoji include the melting face and heart hands emoji.
Emojipedia
There were two emoji that came on top for the favorite emoji at CNET. The 🫠 melting face and 😬 grimacing face each had about 10% of the vote, making them the two favorite emoji of CNET staffers.
According to Emojipedia, melting face can be used for sarcasm or to convey a sense of embarrassment or a slowly sinking sense of dread.
"Melting smiley face is just a perfect encapsulation of when you're on the verge of a meltdown from things going awry but you have to keep smiling through it all," said CNET Editor-at-Large Bridget Carey, who voted for the melting face. "It's just a delightfully cartoonish expression when I'm juggling too many things as a working parent and there's chaos in the world, because when everything feels like it's failing, I just want to laugh through it."
And the grimacing face can be used for nervousness or awkwardness, as well as other negative or tense emotions.
"New tariffs? ICE raids? Layoffs? The grimacing emoji is here to say 'people really didn't think this through' and 'way to pour gasoline on a fire' all in brief unicode," said CNET senior writer David Lumb, who voted for the grimacing face emoji. "The grimacing emoji reflects all this totality with unflinching acknowledgment -- a 'well, this might as well happen' that's ambiguous enough to cover a lot of situations."
That means CNET's two favorite emoji can be used to convey negative emotions. Does that mean we're all struggling with feelings of nervousness at any given time, or always anxious? I can't speak for everyone on staff, but I'm my anxiety is through the roof right now.
Screenshot by Zachary McAuliffe/CNET
Some people really surprised me with their favorite emoji
The grimacing emoji is one of the favorite emoji among CNET staffers.
While most favorite emoji were smileys, there were a few votes that seemed unusual. I'm thinking in particular of the two people who responded that their favorite emoji was the 🧌 troll and 💺 seat emoji.
The troll emoji can refer to an internet troll or trolling someone, so I understand and appreciate the usage there. But some people see this emoji as more than just trolling around.
"There's something about his generally unhinged yet whimsical design that feels perfectly applicable to any interaction," said CNET Analyst Ellen Nelson, who voted for the troll emoji. "He's me on a Monday morning or a sarcastic response to my friends' ridiculous texts. I love his awkward grin and unruly hair paired with an all-powerful wooded scepter."
I agree with Nelson. Who hasn't felt the way this troll looks on a Monday or on the first day back to work from a long vacation?
And the seat emoji is… well, it's just a seat, but it can mean more to certain people.
"I love the seat emoji because to me it represents travel!" said CNET Senior Producer Wesley Ott, who voted for the seat emoji. "I'm not sure whether it is a train, plane or something else, but boy, does that seat look comfortable."
The good news is that Ott's right on the money. Emojipedia says the term "seat" can refer to a fixed seat on mass transit, like a bus or plane seat. At the end of the day, Ott's right; it sure does look like a comfy seat.
CNET's most-used emoji shows how versatile emoji can be
The folded hands emoji was voted the most used emoji by the CNET staff.
Emojipedia
While there was a tie for favorite emoji at CNET, one emoji received about 20% of the votes for most-used emoji, and that is the 🙏 folded hands emoji. While this emoji can be understood to mean prayer, it can also be interpreted in other ways.
A common meaning of the folded hands emoji is as a stand-in for a high five. According to Emojipedia, this understanding of the emoji started on Twitter around January 2012 before taking off in earnest more than a year later in July 2013. However, some early designs of the emoji included rays of light behind the hands or people bowing with their hands clasped together in prayer.
The folded hands emoji has also been used at times to connote someone begging or requesting something. And in some cases this emoji has been used to say "thank you," as exemplified in this cat gif.
Importantly, neither of these understandings of the folded hands emoji are wrong. Language -- and by extension emoji -- is an ever-evolving thing. Which is great, because I'll continue to use the emoji to mean a high-five and you can't stop me.
Screenshot by Zachary McAuliffe/CNET
CNET staffers ❤️ our heart emoji
Emojipedia
Besides the prevalence of smileys across favorite and most used emoji, I also noticed that heart-related emojis were the second most represented emoji overall.
The 💜 purple heart and 🫶 heart hands emoji both had votes as people's favorite emoji, and the 💖 sparkling heart, ❤️ red heart, 💛 yellow heart and 🖤 black heart all appeared in the most used emoji tally.
Each heart emoji can be interpreted as showing love toward others, but some can be understood in other ways. For example, Emojipedia says the black heart can be used to convey "morbidity, sorrow, or a form of dark humor," while the purple heart can be used to reference the Purple Heart medal awarded in the US military to soldiers who were wounded or killed in action.
If you've seen the hit Netflix show Adolescence, some of the heart emoji might look familiar. In the show, the teenage character Adam explains what different colored hearts mean to younger people. In Adolescence, a red heart is easily understood as love, but the yellow heart is more of a question, meaning, "I'm interested in you, are you interested in me?" And the purple heart means a person is horny -- so, you know, maybe don't use that emoji all over the place.
But some people just want to spread positivity with their heart-related emoji, especially after they feel other emoji are co-opted by unsavory folks.
"After tech bros corrupted my beloved sparkles emoji by making it visually synonymous with AI, there was an opening," said CNET writer Katelyn Chedraoui, who voted for the heart hands emoji. "The heart hands emoji glided through that window and into my life. I make heart hands all the time in real life, and I love spreading the joy online, too."
CNET's favorite emoji are just as diverse as emoji themselves
These are some of the favorite and most used emoji among the CNET staff in 2025. A person's favorite emoji is a personal choice, but communal experiences shape what each emoji means. Something could happen between now and this time next year to send the melting and grimacing faces tumbling from the top spots. The pandemic caused the 🦠 microbe emoji to shoot up in popularity in 2020, for example. So who knows, maybe the 😴sleepy face emoji will rise to the top and usher in an era of self-care and taking lots of naps. Or maybe the long-awaited orca whale, expected to come this fall, will make a big splash.
For more on emoji, here's how to decipher them, the latest approved emoji and how to react to messages with emoji on your iPhone.
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