The use of emojis have become a way of life in this digital age and interestingly, Singaporeans are an expressive bunch, even if it's just through emojis. Version 14.0 of the Facebook and Instagram app saw 112 new emojis released last year, including a mirror ball, crutch, and x-ray. Despite the plethora of choices, the most popular new emojis on Facebook amongst Singaporeans showed a range of emotions:
This is certainly great progress from 2012 when a Gallup poll found Singapore to be the most emotionless society globally. Meanwhile, sports-related emojis are popular among Singaporeans too, especially cycling and football. While the cycling emoji may dominate Facebook posts, the football emoji is the most popular one related to sporting activities found on Instagram bios in the country.
Emojis are also popular on WhatsApp and if you are confused by what some of them mean and how they are used, Meta has got you covered. It teamed up with emoji experts Emojipedia to explain some of the hotly debated and newest emojis users can expect to see popping up in group chats, saving you the embarrassment or need to ask what they mean.
1. Blue cap: The phrase "cap" or "capping" and the accompanying emoji are sometimes used when someone is lying or being untruthful. If someone reacts to a message with this, it might mean they don't believe it.
2. Melting face: This can be used when one is literally melting from the summer heat or when showing a sign of embarrassment, shame, or even silliness - much like the upside down face.
3. Skull: This emoji commonly expresses figurative death. Users may react with this to a particularly funny message, i.e. "dying from laughter". While it may look dark at first glance, it's intentionally used as an alternative to the likes of tears of joy and ROFL.
4. Taking notes: This is often used in a funny way to show that one is listening closely to someone's message or "taking notes" on someone's advice.
Separately, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced on Facebook that the company is rolling out the ability to use any emoji as a reaction on WhatsApp. He also listed a couple of his favourite emojis. This update follows the added ability on WhatsApp to react with only six emojis. Netizens had previously urged WhatsApp to include more emojis after the rollout.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
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