The use of some emojis has decreased around the world. These are the ones facing extinction and why the “OK” hand symbol can have much more negative implications.
What do the Dodo, the Iberian ibex and the hope that Kanye West will stop making hateful comments and make good music again? That’s right: they have become extinct. But did you know that something else could soon join the list of the missing? The emojis. According to a recent report by ‘Superside‘several emojis are about to disappear.
The study, titled: ‘The Emoji Report: Which emojis are going extinct?’, analyzes the usage and search volume of the top 100 emojis around the world, using the software Keyword Tool. He concludes that some of the emoticons that were all the rage in their day (and that they gave us one of the worst films of the 21st century, ‘The Emoji Movie’, from 2017) They will follow the path of dots and dashes.
Superside discovered that 14 emojis have seen a decline in global usage, and that not all is well for the ‘OK hand symbol’, which tops the list in danger of extinction. It has fallen 66 places in the popularity rankings since 2013. The blushing face is in second place, followed by the person raising both hands in celebration.
Worldwide, USA, United Kingdom y Slovakia they have the smiling face as your most threatened emojiMeanwhile in Europathe emoji of the face screaming in fear it is slowly disappearing. France and Germany are leading the way when it comes to saying goodbye to that Edvard Munch-looking chart, which has seen a decline of almost 47% in European countries. Ireland, Greece, Iceland and the Czech Republic lead the disinvestment in the OK symbol.
What is the reason for this decrease in the use of certain emoji? For starters, the prevalence of newer emojis, and also the unfortunate association of some emojis with hate groups. For example, the emoji representing a bag of money has been linked to anti-Semitism, while the aforementioned OK hand symbol has been used by some on the Internet as a “sincere expression of white supremacy“, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The North American far-right and neo-fascist militant organization The Proud Boysexclusively male, uses it often during his rallies.
The study also points out that a Statista survey‘ of 2023 found that 1 in 10 men said they had never used emojis, compared to 1 in 20 women. A YouGov survey also found that the use of emojis decreased as age increased: 15% of those over 65 said they had never used an emoji, compared to only 3% of respondents between 18 and 44 years old.
There is also the fact that the generation Z increasingly considers the use of certain emojis to be quite unpleasant and “very millennial.” They either lean toward newer, closer ones, or avoid them altogether. And you? Do emojis make you ‘disgusted’ or do you prefer the ‘face crying out loud’ to the ‘face screaming in fear’?
Additional sources • Superside
