Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 31
Posts 21 - 30

Muslim Teenager Proposes Emoji of Woman Wearing a Head Scarf

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 14.9.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | diversity, emojis
Summary | A muslim teenager from Germany didn't think she could fully express herself with the emojis available on her phone; she wanted to use a hijab emoji. She emailed her proposal to the Unicode Consortium, and her proposal caught the eye of Unicode employees. Since there are about 550 million women who wear a hijab, she thought it was a good reason to propose a hijab emoji. Women want to be better represented on their keyboard, this is why there has been various requests to add more diverse female emojis.
Image Description | Pictures of potential hijab emojis
Image Tags | emojis

Apple Opens the iMessage Door, and the Ephemera Rushes In

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 22.9.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis, GIFs, word/writing
Summary | An Apple user of iMessage can now use different "tchotchkees" (e.g. GIFs, stickers, emojis) which dominate text messages whereas words are just "afterthought". Users can also throw confetti and balloons. Apple is trying to mimic what is out there on the internet.
Image Description | Screenshots of iMessage chats with words and stickers/emojis/GIFs/confetti, and screenshot of a tweet
Image Tags | emojis, gifs, text, Twitter

Look Who's Smiley Now

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 27.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis
Summary | The MoMA in New York acquired 176 emojis for its collection. The first emojis appeared in 1999 and were used in Japanese mobile communication. The first emojis also looked very different (black and white) and some of them look like manga. Early emojis were not created for communicative purposes. Indeed, the first emojis were used by big companies in order to reach and attract customers.
Image Description | N/A

Going Behind the Emoji Smile

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 9.11.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis
Summary | The first Emojicon was launched in San Francisco to celebrate emojis. People were dressed up in emoji characters, there were emoji balloons, and guests could also take pictures with several well-known cardboard emojis. Jennifer Lee is the founder of Emojicon, and she said that emojis are a very important part of our lives now. We use them to express ourselves, flirt, or fight. Lee was brought to Unicode after she (and a friend) realized there was no emoji representing a dumpling. Anyone can submit a new emoji character proposal to Unicode.
Image Description | N/A

Can a GIF Work Better Than Words?

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 21.9.2015
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis, GIFs, language threat, word/writing
Summary | An interviewee claims that using GIFs allows her to express complex feelings and emotions in a a couple seconds. GIFs are becoming more and more popular (i.e. on Facebook, Tumblr, etc.). Words and emojis are becoming old-fashioned.
Image Description | GIF representing three men looking at their smartphone.
Image Tags | gifs, male(s), smartphone

Gaymoji: A New Language for That Search

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 14.3.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | diversity, emojis, research/study, sexting
Summary | The dating app Grindr caters to gay men and is now adding specific emojis - called Gaymojis - to their app. They have noticed that 20% of the messages sent on their platform contain emojis so they are providing emojis specific to the gay dating experience such as a peach with a phone (= bootycall) or an eggplant with a ruler (= well endowed). One linguist says that emojis may take some pressure off of the content of the conversation. Instead of thinking of something to say, emojis just signal that 'I am here and I am interested'.
Image Description | Portrait of the Grindr owners, the Grindr office in LA, and some Gaymojis.
Image Tags | emojis, male(s)

Find and Use Emoji Symbols on Your Computer

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 13.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | email, emojis
Summary | Many people do not know where to find emojis on their computers and how to for instance insert them emails. Many email providers already offer them as part of the menu bar but if that is not the case, then there are some combinations of keys that will bring forth an emoji menu on any computer.
Image Description | Email window and emoji menu.
Image Tags | emojis

New York Public Hospitals Use Emojis to Reach Young People About Sex

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 17.7.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis, social media, youth
Summary | New York City hospitals are now trying to get young people's attention on social media to inform them about free, confidential sexual health services. The advertisement campaign includes emojis, for instance the question "Need to talk to someone about 'it'?" accompanied by an eggplant emoji or bird and bee emojis. They talked to youths in focus groups and determined that this might be the best way to reach them. The campaign is particularly important because many youth report that they do not approach their parents with questions concerning sexual health. Critics of the campaign however say that the advertisements might be too ambiguous and difficult to understand for people who are only just learning English.
Image Description | Two advertisements of the question "Need to talk to someone about 'it'?" accompanied by an eggplant emoji and bird and bee emojis.
Image Tags | emojis

Secrets of the Emoji World, Now With Its Own Convention

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 7.11.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis
Summary | An obscure committee called Unicode Consortium made up of various representatives of leading technological companies world-wide has the ultimate power over which content gets turned into emojis and which does not. An emoji convention (Emojicon) is organized in San Francisco, decorated with emoji-shaped balloons, beach balls, bean bags, emoji foods, people dressed up as emojis, and with many expert speakers from academia, the corporate world, as well as artists and designers. Many of them are unhappy with such a small unrepresentative group of a few (likely) middle-aged, white men should decide on which emojis are available to everyone around the world. The Unicode Consortium has too much power over the global visual language.
Image Description | A hand reaching into a pile of emoji cut-outs. A person dressed as the peach emoji being interviewed. Two people in costumes taking a selfie.
Image Tags | emojis, hand(s), selfie

Branding the Smiley Face: Emoji as Corporate Tools

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 21.6.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis, threat
Summary | Messenger designers are thinking about incorporating techniques to “emojify” one’s message. The keyboard would suggest appropriate emojis to replace certain words of the message. A central organization called Unicode, where all major smartphone companies have voting rights, decides on which new emojis will be added. This society is effectively deciding what is and what is not part of our visual language. The new emoji feature that Apple offers can hamper users' individual creativity and expression. By using the 'emojify' feature, we let big companies control people's ways to express themselves.
Image Description | Digital image of a collection of new emojis and photograph of an iPhone with a chat (with emojis) open.
Image Tags | emojis, smartphone

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