Face palm: When the emoji you want doesn't exist - BBC

There are about 3000 emojis to choose from but what happens when the one you want isn't there? Imagesource,GettyImagesImagecaption,Formany,emojisarepartofthelanguageofsendingmessagesbutwhodecideswhichoneswecanuse?Doyouhaveafavouriteemoji?Maybeit'sthewinkorthefacerollingaroundwithtearsoflaughter.Perhapsifyou'refeelingslightlymoresardonic,it'sthesmilingfacewithjazzhands.Withmorethan3,000tochoosefrom,thereareplentyofoptions.Butwhathappenswhentheoneemojiyouwantisn'tthere?RachelMurphyworksatDroneUp,adroneservicescompanybasedinVirginiaBeachintheUnitedStates.Imagesource,droneUpImagecaption,RachelMurphyandAmyWiegandsentsampleartworktoUnicodeaspartoftheirpleaforadroneemoji"EverydayI'mwritingtweets,I'mmakingposts,andmykneejerkreactionistogetpeopleexcitedbyincludinganemoji,"shesays.ButtheabsenceofadronesymbolonthelistmeansRachelhasbeenforcedtousethehelicopterorflyingsaucerinstead."Thosereallydon'tcoverwhatadroneis,andtheydon'treallyactasanadequatereplacementforit."Rachelstartedresearchingwhocontrolsemojisandhowshecangetadroneaddedtotheofficiallistofcharacters,whichisupdatedeveryyearorso.WhiteandmaleNewproposalsareapprovedorrejectedbyagroupknownastheEmojiSubcommittee,partoftheUnicodeConsortium,anot-for-profitorganisationmadeupofrepresentativesfrommostoftheworld'sbiggesttechfirmsincludingGoogle,Microsoft,AdobeandHuawei.TheymeetregularlyinSiliconValley,California,andvoteondraftemojis,theideasfornewcharacterswhichcancomefromanyoneandanywhere.It'sanentirelyopensubmissionprocess.Butwhoarethepeoplesittingroundthetabledecidingifaproposalgetsthenodandisaddedtoeverysinglesmartphoneorrejectedoutright?Thegroupis"mostlyolder,mostlywhite,mostlymale",saysJennifer8Lee,co-founderofagroupcalledEmojiNation,whichhelpspeopleproposenewemojis.Shehasthefigure8asamiddlename.ShelikensturningupatanEmojiSubcommitteemeetingtoareligiousgathering."Ittotallyhadthevibeofshowingupatanewchurchforthefirsttime,it'slotsofolder,nicewhitepeople,"shesays.Imagecaption,RachelMurphythinksUnicodeiswrongtonotincludeadroneemoji.RachelMurphy'sresearchledtoherandherDroneUpcolleagueAmyWiegandcarefullydraftingaproposalandmakingthecaseforadroneemoji.Theyincludedstatisticsofdronesearchesonline,sampleartwork,andanimpassionedpleatoUnicode."Themainreasonsdronesarebeingusedistosavelives,search-and-rescuesandfindingmissingpeople,"saysMsWiegand.Butitwasn'ttobe.Unicoderejectedtheirproposal."Wewerequiteshockedwhenwegotthenews,"saysMsMurphy.TheEmojiSubcommitteesaidadronewasquitenewtechnologyandmaynothavelongevity."Respectfully,westronglydisagree,"shesays.JapanesemarketScrollthroughtheemojikeyboardandyou'llseeplentyofpicturesofredundanttech:apager,afaxmachine,evenafloppydiskbecauseonceanemojiisadded,itnevergetsremoved.Asaresult,Unicodeiswaryofaddingmoresymbolsthatitfearscouldenduppointlesslyclutteringthekeyboardinjustafewyears'time.ButforMsWiegandit'sbafflingthatsomanyoutdateddevicesgettoexistassymbolsonalltheworld'ssmartphones,whilenewtechnologylikeadroneisrejected."Ihaven'tseenafloppydiskprobablysincethe1980s,"shesays.Clearlyfrustrated,MsWiegandasks:"WhoareyouUnicode,andwhodoyouthinkyouare?"Imagesource,GettyImagesImagecaption,EmojiswereintroducedintheJapanesemarketwherepicturecharacterswerealreadyahitThemanbehindthegroupisMarkDavis,wholooksuncannilylikethewizardemoji.He'stheco-founderandpresidentoftheUnicodeConsortiumandhewasinstrumentalinthelaunchofaglobalemojiset.WhenheformedtheConsortiumintheearly1990s,Unicode'sgoalwastoencodealltheworld'slanguagesintoauniversalsystemthatwouldallowdigitaltextstobeaccuratelyuploadedanddownloaded,nomatterwhatlanguagetheywerein,where-oronwhatdevice-theywerebeingread."BeforethatitwasreallyaTowerofBabel,"MrDavissays.Fast-forwardtothelate2000swhentechgiantsAppleandGooglewantedtoentertheJapanesemarketwithproductssuchasGmailandtheiPhone.BillionairetechnologyentrepreneurMasayoshiSonadvisedtheCalifornianfirmsthatiftheywantedtosucceedinJapan,theyshouldofferemojis-becausethe"picture-characters"or"e-moji"werealreadyahitwithusers.Handoverpower?Unicodeagreedtoaddemojistoitscharactersetandin2010thefirst760emojisbecameavailabletosmartphoneuserseverywhere.Almostovernight,millionsofpeoplehadanewwayofexpressingthemselvesonline."Andwekindofthoughtthatwouldbetheendofit,"saysMrDavis,sighing."Obviouslywewerewrong."MrDavisadmitsthattheemojicrazehasledtomorepublicinterestintheUnicodeConsortiumthanthegroupcouldeverhaveimagined.TheEmojiSubcommitteenowfindsitselfintheunexpectedpositionofhavingtoadjudicateonwhetherproposalsshouldbeaddedtothelist.Andthat,saysKeithWinstein,aprofessoratStanforduniversity,isaproblem.Imagecaption,TylerSchnoebelenisalinguistwhothinksthereareissueswiththecurrentsystem"NocommitteehastheexpertisetotellyouifTyrannosaurusRex,orYerbaMate[aherbaltea]ormenstruationisorisn'timportant.Certainlynocommitteeoftechnicalexperts.They'reexpertsintheencodingofinformation,"hesays.MrWinsteinarguesthatUnicodeshouldgiveupitspowerandhandoverthecreationofemojitothepublicorappdevelopers.Heevensuggestedasmuchtothecommitteeitself."TheylistenedverypolitelyandtwoyearslaterMarkDaviswroteareplythatsaid,'Wedon'tfeellikedoingthat'",laughsMrWinstein."It'shardwhenyou'vebeendoingsomethingkindofthanklessandinabasementfor30yearsandsuddenlyyouhaveveryinterestingpeoplecomingtoyoufromallovertheworld,"hesaid."Ibetit'salotmorefunnowthanitusedtobe."LinguistTylerSchnoebelenagreesthereareissueswiththeUnicodesystem."Idothinkmanyonthecommitteeworkhardtotrytoconsiderotherviewpoints.Butofcourse,that'shardandit'sreallyhardtoseeyourblinders."ThecurrentchairoftheemojisubcommitteeisJenniferDaniel,fromGoogle.Imagecaption,JenniferDanielsaysitishardtodecidewhattoincludeandwhattoexcludeSheadmitsthatitishardtositinjudgementonwhatmakesthecutandshehypothesisesaboutwhatmighthappenifthedroneisapproved."Thenthere'ssomeoneelsegoing,'ButI'manurse.Wherearemynursingsupplies?'Andthenextpersonislike,'I'mdogwalker.Whereareallthedogbreeds',right?Sowhenyouaddsomething,you'reexcludingsomethingelse."ColourchangeImagesource,GettyImagesImagecaption,AppleandGoogleallowuserstochoosedifferentskintonesbutformanythatissimplynotenoughTafadzwaTarumbaisaZimbabweananimator.FindingfewemojisthatreflectedhislifeinSouthernAfrica,hedecidedtocreatehisowngraphics,knownasstickers,thatcanbesentonline.HeincludedimagessuchasZimbabweanhandgesturesandfoods."It'snotjustacaseoftakingayellowemojiandchangingthecolouronit.It'sawholerangeofsocialdynamicsthatpossiblydon'tevenexistinthecommunitieswherethecurrentemojiscomefrom,"hesaid.Perhapsthen,thedaysofpatientlypetitioningUnicodefornewemojiarecomingtoanend.Fiveyearsfromnow,ourfingersmaynotreachsoreadilyforastaticcartoonyimage.Whilemoredesignersarecreatingtheirownonlinestickersets,manytechusersarenowchoosinganimatedclipsorGifstoaddpersonalitytotheirmessages.Fornowthough,Unicoderetainsitspositionofpower,andhopefulemojiproposerslikeAmyandRachelarenotgivingup."Assillyasanemojimaybe,it'ssomethingthatshouldbetakenveryseriously,"saysMsMurphy."Ifwe'renotreadyforthedroneemoji,DroneUpwillkeepapplyinguntilit'stime,"saysMsWiegand.Findoutmoreabouttheworldofemojisinthissix-partpodcastTwoSmileyFaces,partoftheWorldService'sDocumentaryseries.MoreonthisstoryInstagramadmitsmistakeoverracistcomments15July2021Clippyreturns-asanemoji15July2021RelatedTopicsDronesEmojisTopStoriesChinavowsconsequencesifPelosivisitsTaiwanPublished8hoursagoEx-leaderRajapaksatoreturntoSriLanka-officialPublished10hoursagoWhatthefussovernudeBollywoodstarsaysaboutIndiaPublished13hoursagoFeaturesThaicaverescue:'Atfirstitwasdifficult'VideoThaicaverescue:'Atfirstitwasdifficult'ThesecretmissiontosaveLGBTAfghansTheAfghanresistancestandinguptotheTalibanTheteenagerslivingoffrubbish.VideoTheteenagerslivingoffrubbishChildrentiedupandmenincotsinUkraineorphanagesHowRussiaiscuttingoffgastoEurope'Mysonneverfeltsafeandthenhewasshotdead'CouldtheGreatLakessolveUSshippingwoes?Theartofsavingtrees-agadgettosuckinkoffpaperElsewhereontheBBCWhywebrushourteethwrongMostofusdon'tcleanourteethintherightwayTheanimationtoodarkforHollywoodWhydarkJapanesefairytalePrincessMononokewastoomuchforHollywoodDelhi'sopulent'snackofwealth'SomestreetvendorssaymoonlightanddewarethemagicingredientsMostRead1GaspricessoarasRussiacutsGermansupply2WhatthefussovernudeBollywoodstarsaysaboutIndia3ChinavowsconsequencesifPelosivisitsTaiwan4Japanesemonkeythatterrorisedpeoplekilled5Mysteryof1948'SomertonMan'solved-researcher6FootballerNeymarfacesfraudtrialinBarcelona7HungaryPM'sallyresignsover'pureNazi'speech8Ex-leaderRajapaksatoreturntoSriLanka-official9TrussandSunakdebatescrappedafterhostfaints10McDonald'sputsuppriceofcheeseburger