They litter the internet, riddle group chats, and even fill headlines, for certain lower-caliber click bait news sites (ahem, BuzzFeed): emojis. Social media sites, messaging apps, and phone software like iOS, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Twitter have even caught on, and added these smiling yellow faces to their features to better allow their users to express themselves. Teens use them incessantly, and though they may seem alien to some adults, emojis have quickly taken over daily conversations. And for good reason!
"Sometimes emojis act as a kind of language to communicate important information about emotions or attitudes," VOA News wrote in an article called "Emojis and Grammar". It seems that to the younger population, emojis serve to replace feelings or emotions that present themselves difficult to say in words, or that may simply be awkward to put in writing. Many teens report using emojis to clarify their tone in a message, such as including a lighthearted emoji to signify fun teasing, rather than rudeness.
The root of the word for emoji has existed for hundreds of years, the article went on to add, and comes from Japanese words meaning "pictures" or "characters". The word emoji has recently been added to the english Oxford Dictionary as well, and the dictionary even named the "face with tears of joy" as the word of the year as well. It seems that the both the word and usage of emojis have become more and more accepted, and that these cute little faces will continue their slow takeover of the Internet.