Emoji ‘deathly’ smiley face chat icon ranks most hated among youth in China due to subtle taunt which induces ‘panic’
- They were meant to simply sum up a mood while chatting online but there is much more to emojis than meets the eye
- Survey ranks top 10 most-hated chat icons and you will be surprised to find innocent messages could land you in deep trouble
Despite their relatively short lifespan, “emojis” have become an essential part of everyday global communication.
They have also, it seems, taken on a life of their own when it comes to what they actually mean to different people, especially in China.
With more than 1.2 billion monthly active users, Tencent’s WeChat is the mainland’s most popular messaging app.
While the app’s in-built emojis which feature yellow faces with various expressions are slightly different from those on smartphones, they are popular, and some have assumed different meanings than originally intended.
In the case of young people in China, that often means a negative connotation.
A report on the 10 most hated WeChat emojis, carried out by the Chinese research institute Oh! Youth, and based on more than 1,600 questionnaires, went viral online last week.