We are losing words to emojis, finds Twitter study

New York: Twitter analysed the top 10 emoji used for TV-related tweets between April 2014 and July 2015 and found that the ‘face with tears of joy’ emoji was used in 24 percent of the tweets that included emojis. This emoji was also declared the ‘word of the year 2015’ by The Oxford Dictionary. [caption id=“attachment_1575163” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Will these emoji icons replace most of our vocabulary? We hope not. [/caption] The laughing face was followed by the heart eyes (12 percent), crying face (eight percent) and prayer hands (six percent), the study found. “Since emoji characters began displaying on Twitter in April 2014, they have become a practical and fun way to convey extra meaning and emotion in the space of 140 characters,” Twitter’s senior data specialist Joe Cruse wrote in a blog post. “In particular, we have seen emojis used regularly in Tweets about TV, where fans can discuss what’s happening, how they feel about what they’re watching, or add context to their live-Tweeting,” the blog read. About 86 percent of emoji users are aged 24 or younger, with about 50 percent in the 18-24 age group. Also, a greater number of female users used emoji (57 percent) in their TV-related tweets as compared to males (43 percent). But emoji are not just for fun. IANS