Emojis are a part of our everyday lives. They are the best way to describe the weather outside, or to show how much we don’t want to go to classes today with a lot of crying faces in one text. The politics of emojis range from court cases, to Halloween costumes and just about everything in between.
Business Deal or Political Movement?
Where is the line to draw when it comes to business and politics? In 2012, Palestine was excluded from the UN General Assembly. Only some countries actually recognized Palestine as a country, after the fact. Apple took a definitive stance about this situation by adding a Palestine flag on the emoji keyboard. This action has faced much scrutiny from its users.
Racial harmony
There have been a lot of negative connotations with racial discrimination in recent mainstream media. In response, Apple’s political stance on this situation is to accept all human beings as they are – regardless of skin color. Recent apple updates include, but are not limited to, a thumbs up, and peace signs with the option to change the skin color of each emoji.
Millennials communication
The modern perception of technology elicits this idea that all millennials want to do is live our lives through our devices. Some people will argue that technology has severed our ability to properly communicate with our peers. But so what? Sometimes it’s not always easy to say how we feel, so if there is a way to express it through emojis, then why not?
Pizza lovin’
There is nothing better than setting your teeth into a cheesy, wonderful mess of pizza. Who doesn’t love a slice of pizza? Who wouldn’t love to have a pie delivered right to your door by the click of an emoji? Dominos now let’s their customers order a pizza pie by texting them a pizza emoji. Hay-yo for easy pizza!
Equality for all
Imagine not being able to show the most your significant other the most finite way of your love. It’s a terrible thought. Thankfully, in June of 2015 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in all fifty states. Apple showed support of this ruling by adding two mom and two dad emojis with one to three children, with varying genders. This action also caused a lot of controversy.
Trick-or-treat
I work in retail, and the upcoming days to Halloween were interesting. I had a lot of customers come up with clever costumes. Meanwhile some customers adhered to timely classics. I also had a few customers that wanted to replicate an emoji for a costume. How cool is that? Bringing modern technology to life through Halloween.
Who knew such a common social practice could hold such heavy meaning?
