Wikipedia

Emojipedia

Emojipedia is an emoji reference website[1] which documents the meaning and common usage of emoji characters[2] in the Unicode Standard. Most commonly described as an emoji encyclopedia[3] or emoji dictionary,[4] Emojipedia also publishes articles and provides tools for tracking new emoji characters, design changes[5] and usage trends.[6][7] It has been owned by Zedge since 2021.[8][9]

Emojipedia
The wordmark Emojipedia and the logo of an orange book with a smiling emoji on the cover, both in orange tint
The logo of Emojipedia, featuring an orange book with a yellow smiley face on the cover
Available in20 languages
List of languages
EditorKeith Broni
ParentZedge
URLemojipedia.org
Launched2013

Emojipedia is a non-voting associate member of The Unicode Consortium.[10][11]

History

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Jeremy Burge[12] created Emojipedia in 2013,[13] and told the Hackney Gazette "the idea came about when Apple added emojis to iOS 6, but failed to mention which ones were new".[14]

Emojipedia rose to prominence with the release of Unicode 7 in 2014, when The Register reported the "online encyclopedia of emojis has been chucked offline after vast numbers of people visited the site"[15] in relation to the downtime experienced by the site at the time.

In 2015, Emojipedia entered its first partnership with Quartz to release an app that allowed users access previously-hidden country flag emojis on iOS.[16]

Emojipedia told Business Insider in early 2016 that it served "over 140 million page views" per year, and was profitable.[17] In mid-2016, Emojipedia "urged Apple to rethink its plan to convert the handgun emoji symbol into a water pistol icon" citing cross-platform confusion.[18]

In 2017, The Library of Congress launched the Web Cultures Web Archive[19] which featured a history of memes, gifs, and emojis from references including Emojipedia, Boing Boing and GIPHY.[20]

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the site served 23 million page views in October 2017.[21] Total page views for 2013–2019 were said to have reached one billion by February 2019.[22] The New Yorker reported Emojipedia served 50 million page views in April 2020.[23]

In August 2021, Emojipedia was acquired by Zedge for an undisclosed amount.[24]

In February 2022, Keith Broni became Emojipedia's editor-in-chief, taking over from founder and chief emoji officer Jeremy Burge.[25] The Washington Post described Broni as having "spent years researching social media sites to better understand how people employ emojis".[26]

In July 2022, Emojipedia added multi-language support for the first time by localizing the site into five languages.[27] In October 2022, support for 13 more languages (including India's most spoken languages in celebration of Diwali) was introduced.[28]

News and analysis

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In 2016 an Emojipedia analysis[29] showed that the peach emoji[30] is most commonly used to represent buttocks.[31]

According to Emojipedia Broccoli[32] was approved as part of Unicode 10.0 in 2017, this vibrant vegetable has since become a symbol of health, wellness, and yes, even the occasional debate about eating habits. But it hasn’t always been a beloved symbol in the emoji world. In fact, it took several years for the broccoli emoji to gain the popularity it enjoys today.[33]

In 2017, after Google CEO Sundar Pichai pledged to "drop everything" to update Android's burger emoji,[34] Emojipedia revealed[35] the cheese layering issue had been resolved.[36][37][38]

In 2018, Emojipedia revealed[39] that Apple planned to "fix" its bagel emoji[40] design[41] by adding cream cheese,[42] following user complaints.[43]

A 2020 study by Emojipedia[44] found that U+1F637 😷 FACE WITH MEDICAL MASK[45] and U+1F9A0 🦠 MICROBE[46] were most used to represent COVID-19.[47][48] Also in 2020, Emojipedia revealed[49] that Apple's forthcoming iOS update would change the mask-wearing emoji[50] to display a smiling face.[51][52][53]

In January 2021, Emojipedia reported that U+1F602 😂 FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY had been declared an emoji "for boomers"[54][55] on TikTok, and in March 2021, it published analysis showing U+1F62D 😭 LOUDLY CRYING FACE had become the most used emoji on Twitter.[56][57]

World Emoji Day

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World Emoji Day is a holiday created by Emojipedia[58] in 2014[59] which is held on 17 July each year.[60] According to The New York Times, 17 July was chosen due to the design of the calendar emoji (on iOS) showing this date.[61][62]

Emojipedia used the second annual World Emoji Day to release EmojiVote as "an experiment in Emoji democracy".[63] In 2017–2020, Apple used this event to preview new emojis for iOS.[64][65][66] Emojipedia reveals the winners of the World Emoji Awards each year, with past announcements held live at the New York Stock Exchange[67] and National Museum of Cinema.[68]

Adopt an Emoji

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Emojipedia launched Adopt an Emoji in September 2015 as "an attempt to make the site free of display ads" according to Wired.[69] This preceded a similar program by the Unicode Consortium in December 2015.[70]

The Emojipedia "Adopt an Emoji" program was shut down in November 2016, citing confusion for users and advertisers due to the similarity with Unicode's fundraising effort.[71]

Cultural impact

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In 2018, Portland Maine's Press Herald reported that Senator Angus King had endorsed a new lobster emoji[72] but Emojipedia's design was called out as "anatomically incorrect" due to an incorrect number of legs.[73] The number of legs on Emojipedia's lobster design was subsequently fixed in a future release. Slate reported this as "a victory for scientists and lobster fans everywhere".[74]

Skater Tony Hawk criticized Emojipedia's skateboard design as being "'mid-'80s ... beginner-level' board 'definitely not representative' of the modern sport" and subsequently worked with the company to produce an updated design.[75]

On BBC Radio 4, Stephen Fry described Emojipedia as "a kind of Académie française for your iPhone" when assessing its impact on the English language.[76]

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In 2018, Emojipedia was presented in the Federal Court of Australia as "a reputable website in telling us how to interpret these faces" by a lawyer for Geoffrey Rush during a defamation case against Nationwide News. This was in the context of interpreting an emoji sent by Rush to a fellow actor, which Rush described as "the looniest emoji I could find".[77] Rush said he would have used an emoji of Groucho Marx or The Muppets' Fozzie Bear if they had been available.[78] Reports indicate Rush's lawyer "attempted to hand up to Justice Michael Wigney a printout of the emoji's meaning from Emojipedia" but a barrister for Nationwide News objected, stating it "doesn't matter what Emojipedia says the emoji is". Justice Wigney agreed that an emoji definition "is in the eye of the beholder": inferring the context within the message was more important than the Emojipedia definition.[79]

References

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  1. ^ Yen, Yap (29 June 2015). "The Definitive Guide To All Things Emoji". Design Taxi. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  2. ^ Davis, Mark (3 February 2015). "More Unicode Emoji Glyph changes" (PDF). Unicode Consortium. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  3. ^ Brown, Shelby. "Confused by emoji meanings? Here's a simple trick for getting it right". CNET. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  4. ^ Kaya Yurieff (14 February 2021). "Sorry, millennials. The 😂 emoji isn't cool anymore". CNN. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  5. ^ Allen Kim (6 October 2020). "Apple's new face mask emoji is now hiding a smile". CNN. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  6. ^ Seward, Zachary (4 May 2015). "Microsoft is the only tech company daring enough to support the middle finger emoji". Quartz. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  7. ^ Griffin, Andrew (1 April 2021). "The 'tears of joy' emoji is losing its place as the most popular one". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  8. ^ Price, Rob. "Emojipedia, the internet's encyclopedia for emojis, just got acquired by phone software company Zedge". Business Insider. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Zedge Acquires Emojipedia, the Leading Authority on Emojis". finance.yahoo.com. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Unicode Members". www.unicode.org. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  11. ^ Washington, Vineet (28 July 2020). "Emoji 13.1 With Face in Clouds, Mending Heart, and More Announced". NDTV Gadgets 360. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  12. ^ Griffin, Andrew (17 July 2016). "Meet the man whose life work is cataloguing emoji". The Independent. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  13. ^ Van Luling, Todd (18 November 2014). "Why We Never Got Those 250 New Emoji We Were Promised". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  14. ^ Ibitoye, Victoria (31 March 2016). "8 commonly confused emoji and what they really mean". Hackney Gazette.
  15. ^ Hamill, Jasper (17 June 2014). "Unicode ideogram list-site Emojipedia goes titsup". The Register. London. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  16. ^ Seward, Zach (10 June 2015). "Say hello to Flags, the world's emoji keyboard for iPhones". Quartz. New York.
  17. ^ Price, Rob (17 January 2016). "Interview with Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  18. ^ Baraniuk, Chris (5 August 2016). "Apple urged to rethink gun emoji change". BBC. London.
  19. ^ "About this Collection – Web Cultures Web Archive". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  20. ^ "The Library of Congress Archives Web Culture Online". CraveOnline. 16 August 2017. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  21. ^ Olding, Rachel (2 December 2017). "How Jeremy Burge turned his curiosity with emojis into a six-figure salary". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  22. ^ Swan, David (19 February 2019). "Emojis register serious business". The Australian. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  23. ^ Mirani, Leo (15 August 2020). "The Samuel Johnson of Emoji". The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  24. ^ Price, Rob. "Emojipedia, the internet's encyclopedia for emojis, just got acquired by phone software company Zedge". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Keith Broni is Emojipedia's New Editor in Chief". Emojipedia. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  26. ^ Hunter, Tatum (17 June 2024). "Apple will use AI to generate infinite emojis. Will it ruin the fun?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Spanish, French, Portuguese, German & Italian now supported on Emojipedia". Emojipedia. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  28. ^ "13 More Languages Supported on Emojipedia". Emojipedia. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  29. ^ Azhar, Hamdan (16 December 2016). "How We Really Use The Peach". Emojipedia. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  30. ^ "🍑 Peach Emoji". emojipedia.org. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  31. ^ Kircher, Madison Malone (16 December 2016). "Very Official Study Finds Peach Emoji Most Often Paired With Eggplant". Intelligencer. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  32. ^ "🥦 Broccoli Emoji". emojis.directory. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  33. ^ Memon, Adil (16 July 2023). "What Does 🥦 Broccoli Emoji Mean? Discover Its Significance". Random Emoji Generator. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  34. ^ Calfas, Jennifer (29 October 2017). "Google CEO Promises to 'Drop Everything' to Fix its Cheeseburger Emoji". Time. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  35. ^ Burge, Jeremy (28 November 2017). "Google Fixes Burger Emoji". Emojipedia. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  36. ^ Gallucci, Nicole (28 November 2017). "Google finally fixed its horrendous excuse for a burger emoji". Mashable. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  37. ^ "Google finally fixes the burger emoji". Engadget. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  38. ^ Perez, Sarah (28 November 2017). "Google Fixed The Burger Emoji in Android 8.1". TechCrunch. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  39. ^ Burge, Jeremy (15 October 2018). "Apple Fixes Bagel Emoji". Emojipedia. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  40. ^ "🥯 Bagel Emoji". emojipedia.org. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  41. ^ Statt, Nick (15 October 2018). "Apple fixes its new bagel emoji with cream cheese and a doughier consistency". The Verge. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  42. ^ "Apple Is Fixing its Bone-Dry Bagel Emoji After An Outcry". Time. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  43. ^ "Apple has fixed its incredibly controversial bagel emoji". The Independent. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  44. ^ Broni, Keith (11 March 2020). "Spread of the Coronavirus Emoji". Emojipedia. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  45. ^ "😷 Face with Medical Mask Emoji". emojipedia.org. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  46. ^ "🦠 Microbe Emoji". emojipedia.org. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  47. ^ Pesce, Nicole Lyn. "World Emoji Day: These emoji best sum up life during the pandemic". MarketWatch. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  48. ^ Meisenzahl, Mary. "These are the emoji people are using in their coronavirus tweets". Business Insider. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  49. ^ Burge, Jeremy (2 October 2020). "Mask Wearing Emoji Now Smiles". Emojipedia. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  50. ^ Allen Kim (6 October 2020). "Apple's new face mask emoji is now hiding a smile". CNN. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  51. ^ Hollister, Sean (3 October 2020). "Apple is hiding a smile behind its new mask emoji". The Verge. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  52. ^ Dupere, Katie (5 October 2020). "Apple Updated the Mask-Wearing Emoji to Include a Smile". Men's Health. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  53. ^ Serrano, Jody (5 October 2020). "Apple's New Emoji Wants You to Know That You Don't Have to Be Miserable When Wearing a Face Mask". Gizmodo. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  54. ^ Burge, Jeremy (25 January 2021). "What Happens in the TikTok Comments". Emojipedia. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  55. ^ "If You Use These Emojis in 2021 You're 'Uncool'". Breakfast Television Toronto. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  56. ^ Brone, Keith (1 April 2021). "😭 Loudly Crying Becomes Top Tier Emoji". Emojipedia. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  57. ^ Ball, Siobhan (2 April 2021). "'Loudly crying' becomes most popular emoji on Twitter—which is pretty apt for the pandemic". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  58. ^ Schiano di Pepe, Federico. "The Evolution of Emojis: A New Creative Way to Engage With Your Customers". Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  59. ^ O'Neill Deighan, Emma (17 July 2015). "It's World Emoji Day, how will you celebrate?". Belfast Live. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  60. ^ Schupak, Amanda (17 July 2015). "Could you use these new emoji in a sentence?". CBS News. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  61. ^ Varn, Kathryn (17 July 2015). "Letting Our Emojis Get in the Way". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  62. ^ "📅 Calendar Emoji". emojipedia.org. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  63. ^ Varn, Kathryn (17 July 2015). "Letting Our Emojis Get in the Way". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  64. ^ Hern, Alex (17 July 2017). "Apple marks World Emoji Day with beards, headscarves and breastfeeding". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  65. ^ "Apple celebrates World Emoji Day". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  66. ^ Burge, Jeremy (16 July 2020). "First Look: New Emojis Coming to iOS in 2020". Emojipedia. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  67. ^ BWW News Desk. "Winners of World Emoji Awards to be Announced on World Emoji Day". Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  68. ^ "Jeremy Burge annuncia il nuovo emoji lanciato nel 2018 che è risultato essere il più popolare dell'anno". Twitter. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  69. ^ Gottsegen, Gordon (4 September 2015). "Adopting Emoji Is Like Adopting Internet Highways". Wired.
  70. ^ McHugh, Molly (16 December 2015). "Why Unicode Is Putting Its Emoji Up For Adoption". Wired.
  71. ^ Burge, Jeremy (14 November 2016). "Adopt Your Emoji at Unicode". Emojipedia.
  72. ^ "Lobster". Emojipedia.
  73. ^ "Lobster emoji design stumbles, perhaps for want of 2 more legs". Press Herald. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  74. ^ Barasch, Alex. "The New Lobster and DNA Emojis Are Now Scientifically Accurate. Well Done, Nerds!". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  75. ^ "Skateboard, DNA and Lobster Updated". Geek.com. 23 February 2018. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  76. ^ "Words Fail Me, Series 8, Fry's English Delight – BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  77. ^ McGowan, Michael (24 October 2018). "Geoffrey Rush doesn't want to act again, his wife tells libel trial". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  78. ^ Whitbourn, Michaela (17 December 2018). "Geoffrey Rush denies harassing Orange Is The New Black star Yael Stone". The Age. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  79. ^ "Geoffrey Rush's Wife Says Her Husband 'Wept' When He Saw 'King Leer' Front Cover". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
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