World Emoji Day: Celebrating Lively Characters That Make Digital Communication ‘More Universal’
World Emoji Day: World Emoji Day is celebrated annually on July 17 and today is the day. It all started when the tech-giants Apple first used July 17 in their calendar emoji, marking the day of presenting the iCal calendar programme for Mac in the year 2002.
Twelve years later, i.e., since 2014, Emojipedia has celebrated World Emoji Day on July 17 and this year it will be the eleventh annual global emoji celebration.
Other tech-giant Google previously showed different dates on calendar emoji but began using July 17 to avoid confusion on the World Emoji Day.
History Of World Emoji Day
World Emoji Day, established on July 17, 2014, by Emojipedia founder Jeremy Burge, was chosen for the date displayed on the calendar emoji on iPhones, as reported by The New York Times. The Independent was informed by Burge that the inaugural World Emoji Day had no official plans beyond the selection of the date. In 2018, The Washington Post recommended that people use this day to communicate solely using emojis.
In 2016, Google updated the Unicode character U+1F4C5 to show the date 17 July on its Android, Gmail, Hangouts, and ChromeOS products. By 2020, all major platforms, with the exception of Microsoft, had adopted this change to display 17 July on the emoji, aligning with World Emoji Day to minimize confusion.
Significance Of World Emoji Day
July 17, World Emoji Day, serves as a reminder of the pivotal role emojis play in contemporary digital communication. Imagine any text in the digital realm devoid of an emoji; it’s the emojis that enrich the text, adding layers of depth, nuance, expressiveness, and subtle emphasis.
Emojis smash through language barriers and provide a universal way to express feelings and reactions quickly and effectively. Whether you are using the most mundane thumbs up or smiley or creating an encrypted message or riddle, emojis are a must have.
To put it simply, emojis speak in a universal language.
Now, try to draft those messages, content, texts, social media posts, and emails etc. without these magically animated characters. You might feel like swimming through a desert.
World Emoji Day Editions Till Date
- 17 July 2014 World Emoji Day 2014 Thursday
- 17 July 2015 World Emoji Day 2015 Friday
- 17 July 2016 World Emoji Day 2016 Sunday
- 17 July 2017 World Emoji Day 2017 Monday
- 17 July 2018 World Emoji Day 2018 Tuesday
- 17 July 2019 World Emoji Day 2019 Wednesday
- 17 July 2020 World Emoji Day 2020 Friday
- 17 July 2021 World Emoji Day 2021 Saturday
- 17 July 2022 World Emoji Day 2022 Sunday
- 17 July 2023 World Emoji Day 2023 Monday
- 17 July 2024 World Emoji Day 2024 Wednesday