Interactive Map Shows What Emojis People Are Using Across The Globe In Real Time

May 19, 2014, 1:45pm

If you didn’t believe Emojis were a universal language, a new interactive map depicts how the same smiley-faces, hearts, and other text-based iconography are used globally. Silicon Feelings, created by developer Bradley Griffith is a simple-yet-fun project that illustrates where in the world Emojis are being shared in real-time, sourced from Twitter-based geo-tags.

Griffith uses www.emojitracker.com to upload the symbols, but his site doesn’t display every Emoji tweeted unless they are tagged from a particular location. Also, Twitter limits the app to a max of 400 of the 800+ Emojis. He wrote that the project is “a small offering to the internet and effort to learn some technologies I’ve been meaning to learn.”

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Interestingly, only Emojis tagged to the United States and Europe regularly appear on the map—specifically from what appears to be New York and California. This doesn’t mean people in other countries aren’t using Emojis, but possibly suggests that people in many areas don’t tweet with Emojis, or don’t tag their tweets. Also interesting—many tweets from California included fire symbols and distressed Emoji faces, most likely a nod to the fires currently plaguing San Diego. A variety of weed-related symbols also popped up in California, not a huge surprise there. See some photos from the project below, and check out Silicon Feelings for yourself here.

h/t Prosthetic Knowledge

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