We ❤️Emoji

Nov 1, 2021

Guest

Arion

Guest

Rebecca

Guest

Olly

In this lively discussion, guests Arion, a tech enthusiast, Rebecca, a communications expert, and Olly, a cultural historian, dive into the fascinating world of emojis. They trace the origins of the first emoji set released in Japan in 1997 and the slow adoption that followed. The trio amusingly debates whether emojis can hold legal significance and shares stories about their evolution from simple text to a vibrant visual language. Discover the surprising backstory of smileys and frownies and how emojis have reshaped communication!

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

The Evolution and Surprising Origins of Emojis

01:54 • 2min

The Evolution and Impact of Emoticons and Emojis

04:23 • 6min

The first ever emoji set, including the earliest incarnations of 🍷, ❤️, and 💩, was released in Japan on 1st November, 1997. But the only users could send and receive them were owners of a now-forgotten ‘SkyWalker’ handset made by J-Phone. ☹️

Emoji didn’t truly transform written communication in the West until some fourteen years later, when emoji keyboards came by default on iPhone (Android users, incredibly, had to wait until 2013 🤯).

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss how unloved 1990s font Wingdings paved the way for graphical communication; ponder whether emojis can be used in legal contracts; and reveal how an obscure internal bulletin board at a University helped to create the smiley, and its opposite, ‘the frowny’...

There are NINE MINUTES more of emoji-based bantz available exclusively to our Patreon subscribers*. What was the OED's Word of the Year, 2015? What are our team's most-used emojis? And does 🙏 represent high-fives, or prayers? Find out now at https://patreon.com/Retrospectors (*top two tiers).

Further Reading:

• ‘Correcting the Record on the First Emoji Set’ (emojipedia, 2019): https://blog.emojipedia.org/correcting-the-record-on-the-first-emoji-set/

• ‘History of Emoticons and Emoji’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/emoticons-and-emoji-1991412

• ‘A Brief History of Emoji’(The Open University, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tTXLuZHYf4

For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.

#90s #Technology #Inventions #Japan

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