Emoji? What are they?

“Emoji” is a Japanese term meaning “picture character.” It’s a standard for showing smileys and other little symbols inside text. But unlike traditional smileys that are made up of a sequence of letters like :), every emoji has its own letter.

🌷 🌹 🌺 🌻 🌼

Emoji blossomed on smartphones, where quickly picking out an emoji is often faster than typing out a long sentence.

Today we’re rolling out hundreds and hundreds of emoji across WordPress.com — 872 to be exact.

emoji

Do they look familiar? That’s because Twitter has graciously decided to open-source their entire set, allowing anyone to use them. We’re already busy preparing to add these to Jetpack, so WordPress.org users can join in the fun too.

Before today, emoji you inserted into your posts on the go wouldn’t always show properly for all your visitors. While the nice little bunny (🐰) would show up fine when seen on your iPhone or Android, desktop visitors might just see a nondescript square: square

Today’s launch means emoji will now show up properly on every device, no matter if it’s a smartphone, desktop, or tablet. Thanks, Twitter, we appreciate it! 💗

How do I use them?

Inserting emoji in your posts is most easily done on a smartphone or tablet, though it varies how smartphones let you do it. Here are instructions for Android and iOS.

If you’re antsy to insert new emoji from the comfort of your desktop, here are a couple of tricks:

  • Mac users on Mavericks or newer can insert emoji by tapping Command + Control + Space while in a text editor.
  • Windows users on version 8 or newer have a special touch keyboard with emoji support (see instructions with pictures).
  • Windows users on version 7 and below can copy/paste emoji from this cheat sheet.

Have fun with the new emoji!

🐵 🐶 🐷 🐸 🐹