Based on the cave drawings left by our ancient ancestors it is evident that verbal communication has always had a written counterpart. Early mankind left simple drawings to let us know that it was sunny, they knew how to make fire and that Neanderthal named Og, who dwelled in a cave at the base of the mountain, lost his battle with a hungry sabertooth tiger.

Thanks to the growth of technology, most of us have a cell phone that allows us to communicate and share our emotions with ease. Digital communication has transformed the way we share emotions, ideas and nuances in our messages.

 Emojis, from their humble beginning in the late 20th century, have widespread use in today’s social, media and messaging platforms. They have become an essential part of our communication skills and online interactions. They have evolved along with the growth of texting as the chosen way that so many of us choose to communicate. Why spend time typing words and sentences to express an emotion when you could just post a few of the many emojis available on your computer or cell phone?

Emojis began in Japan in the late 1990s with the growth of texting. People were hungry for a more expressive and faster way to communicate. A designer named Shigetaka Kurita is credited with creating the first set of emojis in 1999. Compared to today’s huge numbers, initial emojis were simple and straight to the point. The first group of 176 icons were designed to convey various emotions, activities and objects that were easily recognizable. Smiling faces, hearts and weather symbols provided users with a novel way to reach out and communicate in a fun way with text messaging.

Emojis quickly became popular in Japan becoming a staple and easy way of mobile communication. Their success brought on other mobile characters. Software developers rushed to leave their mark on their own set of emojis. It led to an explosion and proliferation of designs and interpretation.

 However, there was so much competition it created a demand for some kind of standard way of ensuring consistent representation in emojis among different platforms and devices.

In 2010 the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit organization, developed international standards for emojis. They provided a unified framework that enables emojis to be used across various operating systems, applications and devices. Unification ensured that recipients could identify the icon regardless of the platform thereby playing a crucial role in the global use of emojis.

It seems everybody has a smartphone. They actually should come up with a different name because it’s hard to really compare it to the phones we grew up with. We do more emailing and texting with our phones than actually making a call.  A variety of social media platforms sprung up in 2000, bringing with it the popularity of emojis. As texting and social media became the main means of communication, emojis offered a simple easy way to convey emotions and subtleties that words alone often struggle to express. Platforms like Apple and Google created integrated extensive emoji keyboards making it easier for users to incorporate their emojis in their messages. 

With emojis gaining popularity worldwide, it was necessary to reflect a broader range of human experiences and cultural diversity. The Unicode Consortium introduced skin tone modifiers in 2015 allowing users to select emojis that better represented their own ethnicity. Gradually other updates expanded the range of emojis to include activities, relationships and professions representing the importance of inclusiveness in detail communications.

It was only a matter of time that businesses and marketers began to leverage emojis in their advertising and branding strategies. Recognizing their widespread use and appeal, emojis became a powerful way to engage audiences, convey brand messages and foster a sense of relatability. Big companies like Domino’s, Coca-Cola and Chevrolet launched emoji-based campaigns allowing internet consumers to interact with brands in fun and memorable ways

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.