In the digital age, some scientists say that emojis should better represent the earth’s biosphere – including water wasps, flatworms, and others
Emoji Analysis
In an analysis for Emojipedia, a comprehensive emoji index, researchers found that the emoji tree of life is unbalanced: it is completely lacking in some major branches like flatworms and echinoderms (the group that includes starfish), heavily favoring vertebrate animals over all other groups of living things. Entire kingdoms of plants and fungi are represented very minimally; the only emoji for fungi is the mushroom. This kind of taxonomic bias is not unique. Humans have a known tendency to focus on and prefer large, charismatic animals over other living organisms. However, the authors of the study—all biologists—suggest that the significant gaps in emoji biodiversity could hinder digital communication about conservation and biology.
Challenges in Communicating Biodiversity
On social media platforms aimed at the public and even in conversations among scientists, the limited emojis may make it challenging to convey a quick and readable message, according to Professor Francesco Visetola, a zoology professor at the University of Milan in Italy. Biodiversity loss can be an international issue, and conservation actions need to transcend borders and language barriers, but “trying to communicate about biodiversity is difficult for us because languages and cultures are different,” Visetola adds. “Any tool, including emojis, that enhances understanding and communication is essential.”
The Importance of Emojis in Communication
It’s easy to dismiss biodiversity in emojis as trivial—especially when facing the real-world biodiversity crisis. However, emojis have become a larger part of human communication, and it’s worth considering what has been added and what has yet to be added to our growing lexicon of square symbols. Sanjaya Wigiratne, a computer scientist at Nexon America, who has researched the meaning and use of emojis but did not participate in the new study, says, “The paper raises an important question.” Wigiratne points to published research indicating that including emojis in social media posts can increase positive engagement with those posts (by up to 70 percent in some cases). Wigiratne and Visetola suggest that relevant emojis could help researchers in conservation or organizations elevate awareness of certain species online.
Challenges in Adding New Emojis
So far, no formal research has been conducted on the use of emojis and online engagement related to biodiversity conservation—which was highlighted in the study. Emojis are not free to produce, so new characters must be carefully evaluated, according to Jennifer 8. Lee, a current member and vice chair of the Emoji Subcommittee at the non-profit Unicode Consortium, which is responsible for emoji policy. Lee also co-founded Emojination, an organization advocating for more inclusive and representative emojis.
Expanding the Emoji Palette
Lee has been directly involved in expanding the emoji lexicon several times. She contributed to adding the doll emoji to the library. In her role with the subcommittee and Emojination, she also helped expand the list of species emojis. She says she helped achieve approval for the earthworm, cockroach, beaver, sloth, llama, fly, mosquito, and river elephant emojis.
Philosophical and Social Challenges
There are also more complex philosophical questions. While he is pleased with the study, Richard Ladle, a conservation professor at the Federal University of Alagoas in Brazil, is not convinced that we need more biodiversity emojis or that additional emoji options will enhance biodiversity conservation discussions. Ladle studies conservation culture, which is the study of human interaction with nature in the digital world. “Emojis are an interesting thing to study and may give us some insights into people’s relationship with nature,” he says. But in his view, the symbols are essentially a reflection of cultural values and online conversations of people rather than defining them.
Improvement
Emojis to Reflect Reality
Vesetola has no illusions that every type should have a cartoonish appearance. “It’s impossible to have a million emojis,” he says. “That would make everything meaningless because emojis are for quick communication.” However, he envisions that emojis could better reflect our reality and make biology more readable for more people.
Progress in Emoji Biodiversity
The study indicates that the number of animal species represented by emojis more than doubled between 2015 and 2022, which was a pleasant surprise for Vesetola. “My personal feeling is that we have a better understanding of biodiversity now,” he says. “The idea that biodiversity is not just about pandas and lions is spreading in society, including in emojis.” Yet, he adds, “We can always do better.”
Suggestions for New Emojis
Vesetola and his colleagues propose several suggestions for the emoji subcommittee. Emojis of jellyfish, starfish, and flatworms would provide greater coverage of animal diversity, and they write in the study that it would increase the visibility of important organisms often hidden from public view. “Maybe seeing an image of something strange like jellyfish can raise awareness and general understanding that our planet is much more complex than we often think,” says Vesetola.
Challenges of Adding New Emojis
However, Lee, one of the Unicode judges, does not foresee a potential future for these suggestions, which often lack the required elements of cultural relevance and commonly double meanings. Although she has supported even star emojis in the recent past, the online interest and potential uses have been very limited to push them forward. “The star emoji was tried,” she says. “And it’s beautiful, but that’s all.”
Perhaps, when it comes to emojis, communicating about the complexity of life is a tall order. Yet you may find yourself using emojis to express ideas and feelings about biodiversity, environmental conservation, and wildlife. Emojis could be a simple and effective means of communication to raise awareness of the importance of preserving biodiversity and protecting the creatures living on our planet.
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-missing-from-the-emoji-animal-kingdom/
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