An emoji is a visual representation of an emotion, object, or symbol used in digital communication. Its inception dates back to 1982 with the introduction of emoticons by Scott Fahlman. However, the first set of emojis was launched in 1997 by J-Phone. By 1999, Shigetaka Kurita had created 176 emojis for NTT DoCoMo. Emoji gained worldwide popularity, becoming ingrained in popular culture. They serve various purposes like conveying emotions and replacing words in digital communication. Technological advancements have led to the evolution of emojis, offering a wider range of expressions. The Unicode Consortium is responsible for maintaining and updating emoji standards. Despite the pressure for more emoji designs from corporations and the public, the Consortium aims to balance emoji additions with support for historic scripts.
An emoji (/ɪˈmoʊdʒiː/ ih-MOH-jee; plural emoji or emojis; Japanese: 絵文字, romanized: emoji,Japanese pronunciation: [emoꜜʑi]) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversation as well as to replace words as part of a logographic system. Emoji exist in various genres, including facial expressions, expressions, activity, food and drinks, celebrations, flags, objects, symbols, places, types of weather, animals and nature.
Originally meaning pictograph, the word emoji comes from Japanese e (絵, 'picture') + moji (文字, 'character'); the resemblance to the English words emotion and emoticon is purely coincidental. The first emoji set was created by Japanese phone carrier SoftBank in 1997, with emoji becoming increasingly popular worldwide in the 2010s after Unicode began encoding emoji into the Unicode Standard. They are now considered to be a large part of popular culture in the West and around the world. In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries named the Face with Tears of Joy emoji (😂) the word of the year.
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