Emojis get racial diversity with skin tone options

A proposal to expand the skin color options for emojis may get the thumbs up from those calling for more diversity in the icons. Emojis are cartoon-like pictograms - such as smiley faces or hearts - that have become popular in texts and online chats to express emotion. Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization that sets the standards for these pictograms, said in a proposal that is considering adding five new skin colors. The default emoji face was designed to be generic, but Unicode says users been clamoring for changes to better reflect global diversity. The proposal is still under review but could lead to changes for many users as many operating systems are based on Unicode standards. Earlier reports suggested that **250 new emojis were coming soon** which was expected to add 2,834 new characters, approximately 250 emoji, new currency symbols for the Russian ruble and Azerbaijani manat, 23 new lesser-used and historic scripts and some more symbols. Among the list of 250 emojis, there are also some interesting additions such as the middle finger, shopping bags, a clamshell phone, a reminder ribbon and world map. The list also includes some other ‘now-vintage’ emojis like the good old floppy disk and a tape cartridge. The new list includes a slew of computer-related peripherals like the hard disk, a wired keyboard, an old personal computer, a CD, a printer, monitor, mouse and more. With inputs from Associated Press