As some of you may already know, Apple released iOS 9.1 a while ago, which gave all iPhone and iPad users 150+ new emoji to use to their pleasure (or distaste). This update included some interesting emoji, such as a taco, and a middle finger.

While some people may find this entertaining, updates like these bring up questions like: What's the point of all this? Do I need all of these emoji? What if I only use about 5 of them anyways?

Unfortunately, I cannot come up definitive answers to any of the questions. But they are good questions to ask. I just can't help but feel like constantly creating new emoji (Emojii? Emojis? I'm not really sure what the plural form of emoji is, so I'll just keep calling it emoji) is a waste of time and effort, not to mention money and resources. We never really asked for all of these emoji anyways, so giving them to us doesn't really make anything better.

I conducted two polls on Google+, which you can find here and here. In the first poll, I asked: "Do you guys think that the constant additions to Emoji are unnecessary?" 950 responses later, it was obvious what the people thought. About 58% of people who voted believed that new emoji constantly being added was not necessary at all, while 42% didn't mind the constant new additions.

To provide more context as to why more and more emoji is unnecessary, simply see my second poll, where I asked: "How many Emoji do you use often?" I gave the options in increments of 1-5 emoji, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, and 21+. Out of the 259 people that voted, about 54% of them only use about 1-5 emoji commonly, with only a tiny 8% using more that 21.

So now the real question is: Why do we keeping making new emoji if we're not even going to use them? There could be a few answers to this question.

One could be that we just want to have the satisfaction of having them. For example, you'll probably never actually use an emoji of a lion's face, but it's kinda cool to know that you have one (right?).

Another reason could be that these companies could be trying to spark creativity in people by giving them endless amount of emoji to play with. It could be kind of fun to come up with reasons for emoji.

But then again, some emoji simply don't make any sense. For example, what the heck is that floating ma supposed to mean?

I mean, WWWHHHAAATTT???

What context would I use it in, and for what reason? If you do know, please tell me in the comments.

I could come up with a myriad of explanations as to why we keep creating new emoji (better inclusion of more races/genders, more expression, cuteness, etc), but with that comes more reasons as to why we don't need them (taking the time to scroll just to find that one emoji, being overwhelmed by how many there are, not knowing what certain emoji mean, etc). And some emoji simply don't make any sense, making us all question its existence.

Unless you're into alchemy, you'll probably have no idea what this is.

Ultimately, as always, it comes down to you, the consumer. Do you welcome thousands upon thousands of new emoji coming to your phone, or are you fine with the few that you already have? Or are you one of those people that still use these :) :( :D :p?

And if you are being overwhelmed by all the new emoji, check out this comprehensive guide to every single emoji in iOS 9.1.

Let me know what you think in the comments. Or don't. What ever you feel like.