Five ways emojis have reflected COVID culture

By Philip Seargeant, Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, The Open University

Over the past decade, emojis have become an integral part of the way we communicate, and have attracted attention from scholars in subjects ranging from linguistics to psychology. Just as the pandemic has impacted so many other parts of everyday life, so it’s also left its mark on the way we use emojis.

Here are some ways these colourful icons have come to reflect our new, COVID-centric culture over the last 18 months -– and what this tells us about trends in modern online communication.

1. Masks

Emojis were originally a Japanese invention,…

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