The Meaning of Emoji

The internet isn’t just changing the way we use language—it’s changing how we think about it. And that includes the development of visible symbols like emojis. But emojis are governed through their own complex set of rules, technical requirements, and codes, and like everything with language, the way we use them changes constantly. So, who determines what symbols are ready to become new emoji? Is it about literal representation of objects, or something more? And does that smiley face really mean what you think it does? Join leading thinkers Gretchen McCulloch and Jennifer Daniel as they imagine the future of emoji as part of Future Tense’s Predictive Text event series.

Speakers:

Gretchen McCulloch
Internet Linguist
Author of Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language

Jennifer Daniel
Emoji Subcommittee Chair, The Unicode Consortium

Moderator:

Torie Bosch
Editor, Future Tense