Emojipedia is an

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) 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 type ...

reference website which documents the meaning and common usage of emoji characters in the Unicode Standard. Most commonly described as an emoji encyclopedia or emoji dictionary, Emojipedia also publishes articles and provides tools for tracking new emoji characters, design changes and usage trends. It has been owned by Zedge since 2021. Emojipedia is a non-voting associate member of The Unicode Consortium. It was made in 2011 and launched Samsung in 2013 when TouchWiy stated in 2007^225]

History

Jeremy Burge created Emojipedia in 2013, and told the '' Hackney Gazette'' "the idea came about when Apple added emojis to iOS 6, but failed to mention which ones were new". Emojipedia rose to prominence with the release of Unicode 7 in 2014, when ''

The Register ''The Register'' (often also called El Reg) is a British Technology journalism, technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee (journalist), Mike Magee and John Lettice. The online newspaper's Nameplate_(publishing), masthead Logo, s ...

'' reported the "online encyclopedia of emojis has been chucked offline after vast numbers of people visited the site" in relation to the downtime experienced by the site at the time. In 2015, Emojipedia entered its first partnership with

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

to release an app that allowed users access previously-hidden country flag emojis on iOS. Emojipedia told

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

in early 2016 that it served "over 140 million page views" per year, and was profitable. 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. In 2017, The Library of Congress launched the Web Cultures Web Archive which featured a history of memes, gifs, and emojis from references including Emojipedia, Boing Boing and GIPHY. ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' reported that the site served 23 million page views in October 2017. Total page views for 2013–2019 were said to have reached one billion by February 2019. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' reported Emojipedia served 50 million page views in April 2020. In August 2021, Emojipedia was acquired by Zedge for an undisclosed amount. In February 2022, Keith Broni became Emojipedia's

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

, taking over from founder and chief emoji officer Jeremy Burge. The Washington Post described Broni as having "spent years researching social media sites to better understand how people employ emojis". In July 2022, Emojipedia added multi-language support for the first time by localizing the site into five languages. In October 2022, support for 13 more languages (including

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

's most spoken languages in celebration of

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

) was introduced.

News and analysis

The first the news launched in 2014. In 2016 an Emojipedia analysis showed that the peach emoji is most commonly used to represent

buttocks The buttocks (: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed of a lay ...

. According to Emojipedia Broccoli was approved as part of Unicode 10.0 in 2017, this vibrant vegetable has since become a symbol of health, wellness, and 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. In 2017, after Google CEO Sundar Pichai pledged to "drop everything" to update Android's burger emoji, Emojipedia revealed the cheese layering issue had been resolved. In 2018, Emojipedia revealed that Apple planned to "fix" its bagel emoji design by adding cream cheese, following user complaints. A 2020 study by Emojipedia found that and were most used to represent

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Also in 2020, Emojipedia revealed that Apple's forthcoming iOS update would change the mask-wearing emoji to display a smiling face. In January 2021, Emojipedia reported that had been declared an emoji "for boomers" on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, and in March 2021, it published analysis showing had become the most used emoji on Twitter.

World Emoji Day (17 July)

World Emoji Day is a holiday created by Emojipedia in 2014 which is held on 17 July each year. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 17 July was chosen due to the design of the calendar emoji (on iOS) showing this date. Emojipedia used the second annual World Emoji Day to release EmojiVote as "an experiment in Emoji democracy". In 2017–2020, Apple used this event to preview new emojis for iOS. Emojipedia reveals the winners of the World Emoji Awards each year, with past announcements held live at the New York Stock Exchange and National Museum of Cinema.

Adopt an Emoji

Emojipedia launched ''Adopt an Emoji'' in September 2015 as "an attempt to make the site free of display ads" according to

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

. This preceded a similar program by the

Unicode Consortium The Unicode Consortium (legally Unicode, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated and based in Mountain View, California, U.S. Its primary purpose is to maintain and publish the Unicode Standard which was developed with the in ...

in December 2015. 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.

Cultural impact

In 2018, Portland Maine's Press Herald reported that Senator Angus King had endorsed a new lobster emoji but Emojipedia's design was called out as "anatomically incorrect" due to an incorrect number of legs. The number of legs on Emojipedia's lobster design was subsequently fixed in a future release.

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

reported this as "a victory for scientists and lobster fans everywhere". Skater

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first docume ...

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. On

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

described Emojipedia as "a kind of

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

for your iPhone" when assessing its impact on the English language.

Legal precedent

In 2018, Emojipedia was presented in the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...

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". Rush said he would have used an emoji of

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

or The Muppets' Fozzie Bear if they had been available. 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.

References

External links

* {{Emoji navbox Online encyclopedias Emoji Internet properties established in 2013 American online encyclopedias 2021 mergers and acquisitions