EMOTIONS GO TO WORK

An Alphabet of the Passions Part 2
Emoji

Emoji first appeared at the end of the 20th century on Japanese mobile phones. Since then they have grown more and more lifelike. Emojis are interlocutors between ordinary people and global corporations. They are tools that enable companies to harvest emotional data. Because it is fun to use symbols like emoji and Facebook ‘reactions,’ we willingly comply. However, because there are only so many predetermined images to choose from, they stunt our emotional expression.