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@ 60392a22:1cae32da
2025-05-14 01:42:49Why are emojis called emojis?
The word "emoji" comes from Japan because emojis were first created and popularized there. The term "emoji" (絵文字) is made up of two Japanese words: "e" (絵), meaning "picture," and "moji" (文字), meaning "character."
The first set of emojis was developed in 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita, a designer working for NTT DoCoMo, a major Japanese mobile phone company. Kurita designed a set of 176 12×12 pixel images for a messaging service called i-mode, which was a precursor to what we now recognize as text messaging. The aim was to help people convey emotions, actions, or objects more easily in their digital communication, especially since sending lengthy texts wasn’t as practical on early mobile phones.
The simplicity and ease of emojis made them incredibly popular, and over time, they spread beyond Japan to the rest of the world. Today, emojis are used globally in texting, social media, and digital communication.
So, while emojis were created in Japan, they’ve become a universal part of modern communication!
I did not know it. I want to share it. so now I tweet.