While the microbe emoji was first approved in 2018, different technology providers render it in strikingly different ways.
and more generally the face with medical mask emoji ?.
Emojipedia
In addition, some platforms have even created their own bespoke COVID-19 emoji.
For instance, Twitter users can use the hashtag#SafeHandsChallengeto display a custom hand-washing emoji.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
There is also evidence of combinations of emoji being deployed.
This ingenious use of the crown emoji is not just an example of human creative smarts.
It also illustrates an ancient and well-worn principle in the formation of visual representation.
Aroundtwo-thirdsof the brains neural activity relates to vision (when our eyes are open).
Around 40% of the brains nerve fibers are connected to the retina.
And it takes an adult human just 100 milliseconds to recognize an object.
Of course, abstract ideas typically defy emojification hence the need for repurposing existing emoji.
But creative communicative smarts can often find novel ways of conveying important ideas in the service of digital communication.
And this is as true when communicating using emoji in the COVID-19 pandemic as at any other time.
But, as I explain in The Emoji Code, emoji have a number of related functions.
For example, they can substitute or replace whole words.
Emoji also convey contradiction.
Imagine attempting to get irony across in textspeak without an emoji.
For instance, the rolling eyes emoji ?
often signals that the meaning of a message is the opposite of what the words actually say.
For instance, a wink ?
This provides a multimodal declaration of true love.
Reminding someone to wash their hands can be effectively and humorously reinforced by inserting the bar of soap emoji.
And the fact that emoji are cartoon-like softens the tone of the request.
This article is republished fromThe ConversationbyVyvyan Evans, Professor of Linguistics,Bangor Universityunder a Creative Commons license.
