Latest news with #JeremyBurge
The Citizen
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
It's World Emoji Today😂: The Power of Emojis
📅 Every year on July 17th, the world pauses for a moment, not to draft long texts or write eloquent messages, but to drop a little emoji that says it all. World Emoji Day celebrates the faces that speak louder than words It's World Emoji Day, and the tiny icons that once seemed like digital doodles are now a global language of laughter, love, and everything in between. 🌍 The emoji-volution Believe it or not, emojis are younger than most millennials' cellphone contracts. It all started in Japan in 1999 when Shigetaka Kurita created the very first emoji set, a modest 176 pictograms for a mobile internet platform. These weren't just cute icons; they were designed to convey emotional context where plain text fell flat. Shigetaka Kurita. Picture: Instagram However, emojis went global in 2011 when Apple introduced the emoji keyboard to iOS, closely followed by Android devices. Suddenly, we had an arsenal of facial expressions, food items, zodiac signs, and strangely specific modes of transportation (why is there a canoe and a gondola?) to pepper our messages with. 📆 Why July 17th? Jeremy Burge Emoji. Picture: Instagram Look closely at the calendar emoji 📅 and you'll notice something curious: the date displayed is July 17. That's because it marks the launch of Apple's iCal calendar app in 2002. When Emojipedia founder Jeremy Burge noticed this, he declared July 17 as World Emoji Day back in 2014, and the internet ran with it. Today, World Emoji Day is a real thing. Brands use it to drop campaigns, social media goes wild, and sometimes even new emojis are announced. Yes, it's a whole thing now, because why not? ALSO READ:New button-based smartphone for the visually impaired launched in South Africa 😂 The emoji GOAT So, which emoji rules them all? According to Unicode Consortium (yes, the emoji overlords are real), the face with tears of joy 😂 consistently tops the list as the world's most-used emoji. Why? Because the internet loves irony, chaos, and laughing through the pain. Other top contenders include the red heart ❤️, the rolling-on-the-floor-laughing 🤣, the pleading face 🥺, and the fire emoji 🔥, often used in compliments or when someone posts a selfie that melts timelines. 💬 More than just cute icons Emojis aren't just for giggles. They're shaping the way we communicate. Studies show that using emojis in messages boosts engagement and makes digital convos feel more human. There has even been academic research into the semantics of emojis. Yes, your PhD could be about whether the upside-down face means sarcasm or existential dread (spoiler: it's both). So go on, send a wink 😉, drop a confetti cannon 🎉, or passive-aggressively end your text with a thumbs up 👍. After all, it's World Emoji Day, and these tiny symbols are doing big things.
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
World Emoji Day 2025: Date, history, significance, celebrations — all you need to know
World Emoji Day 2025: In the digital world of social media, emojis have become a crucial element of our everyday communication. They have emerged as a popular and convenient means for communicating emotions and reactions to those on the other end of our screens and social media, whether using platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, X, or more. Additionally, emojis have improved communication by overcoming language barriers and have developed into an essential instrument for modern communication, expressing everything from joy to grief to humour. Every year, on July 17, World Emoji Day is observed globally to emphasise their significance and celebrate their use. Jeremy Burge, the inventor of Emojipedia, a popular online resource for emoji-related knowledge, developed this unique observance in 2014. Burge, an emoji enthusiast, witnessed the expanding influence and importance of emojis in modern communication. As a result, he decided to create a special day to commemorate these digital icons, and July 17 was chosen as the date for World Emoji Day because it corresponds to the 'calendar' emoji. The celebration of World Emoji Day gained popularity over time, drawing interest from people, brands, and tech companies worldwide. It was first recognised in 2014 through several online activities and emoji-based debates. World Emoji Day has become more well-known and well-liked over time. Emojis' global appeal, cultural significance, and ability to bridge gaps and unite people in the digital age are the main reasons for their popularity. 💬 Your favorite #emojis don't just pop up by magic. Ever wonder where they hang out? They're tiny bytes, quietly waiting on fast, intelligent storage—ready to shine the moment you tap.✨ This #WorldEmojiDay, give a shoutout to the unseen stars of your chats!🤩😊😍😀😉🤗… — Huawei IT Products & Solutions (@IT_Huawei) July 17, 2025
NDTV
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
World Emoji Day 2025: How Emojis Evolved And Changed The Way People Communicate
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.
Japan Times
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Can't find the right way to express nuance in a text? Then add on an 絵文字 (emoji). Before 絵文字 and 顔文字 (kaomoji, emoticons) — the little faces we create with コロン (koron, colons), 括弧 (kakko, parentheses) and other such punctuation ;) — became ubiquitous in our communications, you always ran the risk that the person you were sending a text or email to wouldn't know if you were joking, sympathizing or celebrating the message you were trying to convey. 絵文字 and 顔文字 have been incredibly helpful in this regard. So that's why July 17 has been dubbed 世界絵文字デー (Sekai Emoji Dē, World Emoji Day) by Emojipedia, a day to honor this graphic evolution in the way we communicate. Why July 17? Well, Emojipedia founder Jeremy Burge picked the date displayed on the 絵文字 representing a カレンダー (karendā, calendar). The reason July 17 is the date on the カレンダーの絵文字 (karendā no emoji, calendar emoji) is because that's the date Apple initially announced its iCal, a predecessor to the Calendar app many of us use today. The first widely recognized set of 176 emojis was released not by Apple but by Japanese mobile phone operator NTT Docomo 26 years ago. The 12×12 pixel ドコモ絵文字 (Dokomo emoji, Docomo emoji) encouraged users to insert colorful pictograms into their emails as a way to replace entire words and add nuance at the 文末 (bunmatsu, end of a sentence). British linguistics professor Vyvyan Evans said in a 2015 interview with the BBC that 絵文字はその驚異的な普及率と進化の速度 から、歴史上最も急速に広がった言語形態だ (Emoji wa sono kyōi-tekina fukyū ritsu to shinka no sokudo kara, rekishijō mottomo kyūsoku ni hirogatta gengo keitai da, Emoji is the fastest growing form of language in history based on its incredible adoption rate and speed of evolution). Here we are 10 years later with hundreds of ways to express ourselves. However, while Japanese in their 30s and 40s still sprinkle 絵文字 into their messages, the style is now considered おばさん構文 (obasan kōbun, middle-aged women's style texting). This change in digital etiquette mimics other trends such as how 句点 (kuten, periods) can be seen as rude among young Japanese professionals and how a thumbs-up emoji can offend Gen Z texters overseas. Likewise, the custom of putting an emoji at the end of your Japanese texts is starting to fade. Last April, a woman in her 30s shared a surprising experience related to 絵文字 and スタンプ (sutanpu, digital stickers) on the messaging app Line. She texted to celebrate her niece's スマホデビュー (sumaho debyū, smartphone debut) with a smiley 顔文字 and two red heart stickers. The response from her niece? 「落ち着いて 」 (ochitsuite, calm down) — with no 句点, emojis or stickers. For digital native young people who constantly chat online, texts overloaded with 絵文字 can feel a bit over the top. That being said, 絵文字は今や文章に遊び心を足すだけにとどまらず、返信代わりの手段としても使われています (Emoji wa ima ya bunshō ni asobigokoro o tasu dake ni todomarazu, henshin-gawari no shudan to shitemo tsukawarete-imasu, Emojis are now used not only to add humor to text but also as a substitute for replies). In the above sentence, the structure ～にとどまらず (~ni todomarazu, not limited to~ but also) is used to imply the role of 絵文字 goes beyond adding personality to messages. It is derived from the negative form of the verb 留まる (tomaru/todomaru), which translates as to stop, to stay and not to exceed a boundary, as in 滞在先に留まる (taizai-saki ni todomaru, to stay at [one's] accommodation). As an elder Millennial, I grew up meticulously decorating my email texts with pictures, but 絵文字 have since evolved from cute extras to communication essentials. In May, Line unlocked options for リアクション機能 (riakushon kinō, reaction features). This raised the number of choices there from six to more than 240,000, including both official and paid クリエイターズ絵文字 (kurieitāzu emoji, creator emoji) that are made by individuals and approved by LINE. This リアクション機能 function is used 25 million times a day in Japan alone, with half of those users hitting the いいね (ii ne, like) option before the change. It's no wonder that いいね has now become a verb in Japanese: いいねする (ii ne suru, to give a like). Using an 絵文字 to react to something on most apps no longer results in a 通知 (tsūchi, notification) to the receiver, which is convenient when having a グループトーク (gurūpu tōku, group talk) with multiple members. However, if you're in a thread with only one other person, your friend may think, いいねだけでなく返信があればいいのに (Ii ne dake de naku henshin ga areba ii noni, It would be better to have a reply, not just a like). The formal compound particle ～だけでなく (~dake de naku, not only~) works similarly to ～にとどまらず in this example. Just note that it often becomes ～だけじゃなく (~dake janaku) in everyday conversation. For example, a couple of years ago, a now-deleted Reddit post drew mixed reactions by stating: 皆いいねだけじゃなくて他の絵文字も使うとか、「素晴らしい！」って返信すればいいのに (Minna ii ne dake janakute hoka no emoji mo tsukau toka, subarashii-tte henshin sureba ii noni, It'd be better if everyone didn't just hit like, but used different emojis or replied with 'Great!'). In this case, ～だけじゃなく is joined later in the sentence by the particle も (mo), too/also) to create the 'not only ... but also' structure. According to Emojipedia, last year's three most-used 絵文字 were 嬉し泣きの顔 (ureshi naki no kao, face with tears of joy) — the Oxford Word of the Year 2015, 赤いハート (akai hāto, red heart) and 目がハートの顔 (me ga hāto no kao, face with heart eyes). This ranking reflects Japanese usage, too, however it's worth noting that the ぴえん (pien, pleading face emoji with big puppy dog eyes) is also quite popular in Japan. ぴえんは悲しい気分だけでなく感激の意味でも使われます (Pien wa kanashii kibun dake de naku kangeki no imi demo tsukawaremasu, The pleading face emoji is used not only to express sadness but also a sense of being deeply touched). So make sure to give a thought to those little pictures on your phone this 世界絵文字デー, there's so much more available than just the いいねの絵文字 (ii ne no emoji, thumbs up emoji).
