These days, a lot of conversations happen and people have many ways to express their feeling whether it’s sad, angry, happy, or even desperation. Emoji is one thing that you could never miss its sighting. In fact, the way that people use emojis could be related to our current circumstances.
At this time being, it can’t be denied this is the year of the health-related emoji. The virus is everywhere 🦠, people wearing the mask 😷 all the time, which is an irony while France made mask compulsory in public but keep the ban on burqas and niqabs, people also got sick 🤢 sneezing 🤧 everywhere, unpredicted fever 🤒 tragically end up in a hospital 🤕 🚑 💊 💉 , and people always remind each other to wash your hands with 🧼 🧽
How interesting, that according to Emojipedia, people are less using positive emoji this year, while the emoji use is up. The use of pleading-face 🥺 and the folded-hands 🙏 are increasing, so many people are begging for this pandemic to be over, asking for a job, healthcare treatment, and also praying 🙏 goodness to each other.
The shopping cart 🛒 also got its high usage, because you know what? 🧻
Last but not least the airplane ✈️ is most likely not too popular this year.
Recently, a couple of emoji proposal has just been approved and this might relate to everyone in 2020, and in my opinion, mostly these new emojis are to express negative feeling.
Take a look at the face in clouds 😶🌫 and face exhale 😮💨 I thought this would express for the desperation that things will never be as they were used to be, The face with spiral eyes 😵💫 could express the completely chaotic and injustice on this 2020, the #coronavirus, #blacklivesmatter, #delhiburning, #kashmirbleed, #muslimlivesmatter, #uighur, #beirutexplosion, and most of its, recession happened in every country.
The heart on fire ❤️🔥 and the mending heart 🤕 ❤️ to show how many people are broken and healing because of the loss of their families, man beard 🧔♂️ and woman beard 🧔♀️because you got too long staying home, the WFH 👨💻👩💻 effect. Yes, a woman can have a beard too, please don’t ask me why?
Despite all of this happening, this is the man that we should be thankful, the one who made us possible peppering the internet, he is a graphic designer, an Ad man named Harvey Ball, the man who created the first smiley face symbol for an insurance campaign in 1963, and best of all, the image was never copyrighted.
The catch phrase for the day is ‘Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.’ ~ Harvey Ball
