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An analysis published in December by the journal iScience found that while animals are well represented in the current emoji catalog, plants, fungi and microorganisms are only very poorly represented.
“Although the biodiversity crisis seems distant to the online world, in our increasingly digitalized society we should not underestimate the potential of emojis to increase awareness and the ability to appreciate the diversity of life on Earth,” write the analysis authors Stefano Mammola and Mattia Falaschi and Gentile Francesco Ficetola from the University of Milan.
Bearded woman or heart on fire. 200 new emoticons are coming
The research took years
The team evaluated nature and animal emojis available on Emojipedia, an online emoji catalog. He tracked how these symbols changed between 2015 and 2022.
Among animals, vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, were overrepresented, accounting for 76 percent of animal emojis. Arthropods, including insects, arachnids and crustaceans, were relatively underrepresented, although there are 1.3 million described species of arthropods, compared to 85,000 known vertebrate species.
The researchers also found that there are no emojis depicting bed bugs; These protozoa include classes of flatworms or parasitic leeches and tapeworms. This also applies to nematodes, for example, although there are more than 20,000 species of flatworms and almost 20,000 species of nematodes.
However, the scientists noted with gratitude that the diversity of emojis is increasing. Ringworms were represented in 2020 with the suffix “worm,” most likely an earthworm, and fireflies have had a representative on Emojipedia since 2021 with the suffix coral.
How old are smileys?
This September marks 42 years since the first smiley was sent via email – it happened on September 19, 1982. When most people think of a smiley, they think of a yellow circle that symbolizes the human face, in which two points mark the eyes and the curve of the mouth. This is exactly how the smiley face was depicted by artist Harvey Ball in 1963.
At the time it was part of an insurance campaign. The aim was to motivate employees to improve work morale and work discipline.
It is worth remembering that the ancestors of smileys appeared more than 200 years ago. The symbol, which resembles a smiley, appeared in the correspondence of Bernard Hennet, the abbot of Žiðar, who died in 1770.
Historians also like to remind us that Winston Churchill used a certain type of smiley. In love letters addressed to his wife, he used the letter X instead of the kiss mark.
Using smileys in business emails conveys less authority
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