World Emoji Day: Our Emoji Pet Peeves

When the calendar emoji shows the correct date, it’s World Emoji Day. 📅 The cute little pictograms are hugely popular and shape the way we communicate in chats. Yet despite – or perhaps because of – their popularity, they also give rise to a number of minor pet peeves. Here’s a non-exhaustive (and not entirely serious) overview.

Emoji Overload

Let’s start with the obvious. Emojis lighten the mood and add flair to chat conversations. But, as is so often the case, finding the right balance is key. After all, it’s easy to go overboard and drown a message in emojis.

If every other word is followed by multiple emojis, messages can become cluttered and hard to read. One or two well-placed emojis are often more effective than a whole extra layer of visual storytelling.

Thumbs Up as an Emoji Reaction

You can, of course, also go too far in the other direction and put in too little effort. If someone receives a generic 👍 as an emoji reaction to a specific question, it can feel half-hearted – and leave the recipient doubly discouraged.

To begin with, they don’t get a notification about the reaction. And after eventually discovering it, they learn that the message was acknowledged but are left assuming that it wasn’t met with overwhelming enthusiasm. Even a 👌 would convey a bit more excitement.

The (Not-so-)Perfect Emoji

Speaking of 👌: The emoji that’s supposed to mean “perfect” is itself far from perfect, at least in Apple’s design.

There are several issues worth pointing out here. First and foremost, the thumb and index finger don’t actually touch, as would be typical for this gesture. Those with a pedantic streak may also find it unsettling that the two fingers don’t form a nice, round circle, but rather an irregular oval.

Ignoring the fact that the hand is depicted from the sender’s perspective (as if they were talking to themselves), did anything else catch your eye? Exactly: Despite predating AI-generated images by several years, the poor hand seems to be missing a finger. All other emoji hands have five.

Emotional Emojis in the Workplace

On the other hand (no pun intended), the ❤️ emoji is impeccably designed. With its simple, clear shape and universal recognizability, it’s about as close to perfection as an emoji can get.

These are likely some of the reasons why it – along with its relatives (😍, 🥰, 😘) and variants (💖, ❤️‍🔥, 💗) – is used more and more frequently and is no longer reserved solely for the most intense of all positive emotions.

Opinions are divided, however, on whether it’s appropriate to use emojis like ❤️ or 😘 in a professional setting.

Of course, the answer also depends on the specific context and factors such as how well the chat partners know each other, but we’ll leave it up to you to decide whether emojis like these have a place at work in general.

What are your pet peeves?

Emojis are more than just a gimmick. They’ve practically become a language of their own, making chat communication more lively and adding an extra layer of meaning to short messages. Precisely because they’re so popular, they can easily become the source of minor annoyances.

What are your emoji pet peeves? Let us know on our social media channels. ❤️