They have earned their place in chat conversations and we have even taken the opportunity to put them in emails, but Emojis are not just a simple emoticon with a funny look: What we send over the phone are character codes; that each device or application will load as it wishes. Yes, the same Emoji can look very different from one mobile phone to another. That’s part of its magic.
No self-respecting WhatsApp, Telegram or Facebook Messenger chat is exempt from some 😃, that mischievous personalized wink in the 😉 or the always welcome 💩 of annoyance. They are so universal that they even play in movies: emojis have revolutionized the representation of emotions to the point of becoming small drawings that they say more than a thousand words. But they hide a secret that few people know.
Emojis graphic style is completely free
Different representations of four Emojis. Unicode Image
Emojis are part of Unicode, the international standard responsible for supporting all characters used in any text or code printed (on paper or on screen). Each year, Unicode selects a list of new Emojis to add to the already vast collection of emoticons. And while the standard itself creates a graphical representation of each Emoji, It is other companies that adapt this style to their respective environments..
Each Emoji created by Unicode offers a specific emotion, object, action… that serves as a style guide for companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft or Facebook to adapt them to their own operating systems or applications. And that’s why they are not seen in a homogeneous way: even if we can see a smiling face or a poop, The design can vary so much from one mobile to another that it is capable of transmitting contradictory sensations..
Usually messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram They adopt Apple Emojis: by sending emoticons via these applications, they will have the same appearance regardless of the device. Quite the opposite of what happens with SMS, emails or Twitter for example: the graphic style will depend on the operating system that the phone is equipped with.
In the text box where we enter the Emoji to send, a drawing appears in the form of an icon; that the person to whom we send said Emoji will receive. This apparent exchange of images is not true since, in reality, we do not send drawing: what is transmitted to the network is the character code that identifies the specific Emoji in the emoticon catalog installed by the phone. And if the other person does not have this Emoji, a square with a cross (or strange characters in the form of Japanese kanji) will appear.
We do not send images as icons: they are characters.
Generic Unicode Emojis with their character codes
Whenever we exchange Emojis with someone else, we send a text with a code that identifies each Emoji: Unicode associates emoticons with references. And, since this reference is received with the text of the message, This is the application that is responsible for loading the graphic representation that you have installed. (and this corresponds to the characters received). It’s like ordering a chocolate cone at an ice cream kiosk: even if the name is generic, the appearance of the ice cream will depend on the manufacturer.
