Emojis in the News

More managers than workers approved of emoji at work, a finding that reflects research showing that small, playful icons serve a surprisingly serious purpose in managing the emotional tone at work.

Workplace emoticon users, the authors argue, are primarily trying to clue recipients into how their message should be interpreted. (People often use exclamation points in work email for similar

To play it safe, the best emoji to send is a variation of the smiley face. To be avoided, in Ms Whitmore’s view: anything denoting anger or romance.

lways ahead of the curve, other tech-forward offerings from Aloft have included: Botlr, the world's first robotic butler, currently employed at Aloft Cupertino; TiGi ("text it, get it") the world's first Emoji-only room service menu

Indonesia's Government has demanded all instant message apps remove same-sex emojis or face a ban in the Muslim-majority country. Key points:Indonesia says messaging apps will be banned if same-sex emojis are not removedHomosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but is controversial in Muslim-majority countryActivists say move is part of wider crackdown on LGBT rights The emojis, which are available on apps including LINE, Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter, depict same-sex couples holding hands and the rainbow flag, commonly used to symbolise the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community."Such contents are not allowed in Indonesia based on our cultural law and the religious norms and the operators must respect that," Ismail Cawidu, spokesman for the Communication and Information Ministry, said.He said of particular concern was that the colourful emojis and stickers could appeal to children.

One of the sections of the report indicated that Gen Z is more prone to communicating with images than text. As if on queue, emoji seemed to be everywhere in the news this week: The Unicode Consortium is introducing 72 new emoji which will join the 1,601 already in existence, adding a number of long-requested symbols. Yes, ROFL and bacon have been granted emoji status. Glad to see bowties and bourbon have made the list as well. Frank Sinatra would feel right at home (along with me). 

Facebook has finally introduced racially and gender diverse emoji. And Walmart is bringing back Smiley —  the original emoji. [Disclosure: Walmart is a client of Scott Monty Strategies.]

Besides bacon, there will be 18 other new food-related emoji including croissants, pancakes, kiwi and peanuts as well as 22 new people emoji with a more anthropomorphic design. Animal lovers won’t be left out either, with a solid sprinkling of new feathered, four-legged and ocean-dwelling critters, including a duck, owl, eagle, bat, butterfly, fox, deer, rhinoceros, gorilla, shark, squid, shrimp, and lizard emoji.

June 21 as the official release date for Unicode 9, it is up to Google and Apple to release them. If you don’t want to wait, we’ve previously shared a method for getting the new emoji on your phone right now.

The world's first Māori emoji keyboard for iPhone and Android is being launched by the Rotorua visitor attraction Te Puia, with 150 characters, including tiki pukana expressions, taiaha, hangi, waka ama and kete.

Te Puia spokesperson Kiri Atkinson-Crean said there had only been limited New Zealand icons. "We wanted to create a unique New Zealand equivalent that represents Māori and Kiwi culture and although we were keen to wait until they were available to download to officially launch them, they have taken on a life of their own. We are absolutely blown away by the social media response we've experienced, so it seems only fair to share a few more of the details."

Mobigraph Inc, added new innovations in their new release of avatar-based chat platform, QUGO 2.0. Providing access to a rich set of human emotions and animations, the latest release adds number of firsts to the burgeoning demand for expressiveness in person-to-person communications.

Unlike animated GIFs, QUGO animations are personalized, embody body language and facial expressions that brings a sense of life, personality, and dynamism to the digital self. QUGO's customizable, brand-ready animations are designed and executed in 3D, full multi-layered, 60 frames per second HD animations

As a validation to this trend, Facebook recently released six 'reaction' buttons with emojis and Sony Pictures Animations release of the "Emoji movie" in 2017 involves major partnership with brands that appear as the main emoji characters in the movie.