Type #HappyDiwali on Twitter and a lit-up diya on an extended palm, will be added to your post. The diya sparkles, when the user switches to the dark mode on the platform.
After its launch recently, Twitter India posted: “We know you care, so #LightUpALife and #EkZindagiKaroRoshan. This Diwali, bring a smile to someone’s face or spread cheer with this new emoji, tag someone and say nothing.”
Over the years, the microblogging platform has impressed netizens with several emojis, like the recent #25YearsOfDDLJ, where a cowbell could be seen, which made many nostalgic.
Creative expressions for festivals, cultural, and patriotic days have become common. Some emojis are created for awareness like the #Handwashing emoji and the #StayAtHome emojis, while others circles around nostalgia, like the #90sNostalgia emoji.
Why does Twitter make these emojis? Metrolife finds out.
Twitter has launched emojis for festivities, occasions of national significance, movie launches, sports tournaments, and brand campaigns.
A Twitter spokesperson says, “Our aim with emojis is to allow people to express their thoughts in fun, creative ways and enhance awareness about important and trending conversations by adding colour to moments that people are talking about.”
While some emojis for days like Deepavali, Republic Day or Independence Day, or around other festivities are introduced by Twitter, emojis around brand or movie launches are usually introduced in partnership with brands or production houses. “For example, the emojis recently introduced for #25YearsOfDDLJ with Yash Raj Films or with Amazon Prime Video for #Mirzapur2,” says a spokesperson.
World of custom emojis
Twitter launched custom emojis in India back in 2015. Owing to the success of the 13 emojis launched that year, the social media platform released 39 new ones in 2016, 62 in 2017, 39 in 2018, 86 in 2019, and has launched 50 until September 2020.
The emojis were well received by audiences, “as these little symbols reflect various aspects of local culture, entertainment and sports conversations and current happenings in the country”.
Its usage is across demographics — age and geography wise. “While the younger generation is more likely to use emojis, it is more dependent on the conversation that the emoji is a part of. Since Twitter emojis are triggered by specific hashtags, every tweet with the associated hashtags will reflect the emoji for as long it is active,” says the spokesperson.
Gratitude emojis used more
during pandemic
The pandemic brings netizens to Twitter to stay updated with the latest developments. They have observed people becoming more aware and grateful.
“Between March 15 and May, we saw over 250 million tweets worldwide expressing gratitude and thanks, which was a 26 per cent increase from February’s average. The use of the pray and clap emojis are up by 50 per cent and 10 per cent respectively,” says the spokesperson.
Public interest in mind
In 2016, Twitter’s Deepavali emoji was designed based on public opinion, via a Twitter poll asking people to choose the diya that would want the emoji to look.
“We received a great response and thus launched our first crowdsourced emoji in 2016. Around the release of movie #MissionMangal, another emoji based on people’s response to a call for suggestions tweeted by the Akshay Kumar was created,” says the spokesperson.