Because a picture is worth a thousand words, blah blah blah, let s wander into the world of emoji.
Have you ever wanted to flip someone off in a message? Microsoft s got your back, at least according to Emojipedia, which says the raised middle finger will make its debut as part of the Windows 10 update. If true, that would make Microsoft the first big company to support such profanity. What s more, you could be an equal-opportunity offender, because the middle finger emoji comes in a variety of skin tones, including gray, although most people have probably never met anyone gray.
Will non-Windows users be able to get in on the flipping-off action? Quartz notes that it s up to companies like Apple, Google, Twitter, and others to actually allow their users to type and view each emoji.
If you just can t wait to make your passionate feelings known, Windows 10 is scheduled to be released this summer.
I ve contacted Microsoft for comment and will update this post when I hear back.
In other emoji news, nearly 40 percent of all captions on Instagram contain emoji, according to a recent study by the photo-sharing network. That number is higher in Finland (63 percent), and in several countries in Europe.
The study also found that with the rise of emoji comes the decline of Internet slang. So if you re not crazy about LOL and OMG, here s something else to be grumpy about: smiley faces and beating hearts and pictures of animals, food and feces.
It is a rare privilege to observe the rise of a new language, wrote Thomas Dimson, a software engineer on the Instagram Data Team, in a blog post about the study.
A new language, but does it help communication? NPR takes a look at how emoji has managed to confuse, not simplify. It has also had some unintended consequeneces.
Lately the gun emoji has been getting people in trouble. Last week the Houston Rockets used a gun emoji next to a horse in a tweet, aimed at their opponent the Dallas Mavericks, just before beating them in a playoff game. It s since been deleted, and the Rockets fired their social media manager.
NPR notes that the gun emoji is popular among teenagers. In January, a teen was arrested for posting emojis of guns pointing at an emoji of a cop. The charges were later dropped.
Above: Screenshot from an emoji menu, sans the middle finger.
