3 Facts About Emojis

1. Shigetaka Kurita is viewed as the 'Father of Emoji.' The Japanese designer created the first emojis in 1999 for a program where users were limited to 250 characters in an email.
"I'm surprised at how widespread they have become. Then again, they are universal, so they are useful communication tools that transcend language." Kurita, to 'The Guardian,' 2016.
2. The most popular emojis vary from country to country. In the U.S., Canada and the U.K., the "despairing crying face" is most used.
3. The father of emoticons dislikes emojis. Remember when you had to type this, :) , instead of an emoji?
Carnegie Mellon science professor, Scott Fahlman, created this version of digital emotion on a 1982 message board. However, he dislikes emojis.
"I think they are ugly, and they ruin the challenge of trying to come up with a clever way to express emotions using standard keyboard characters." Fahlman, to the 'Independent,' 2012