Emojis become the new norm for internet slang

Communicating with people is something that we humans deem necessary in life. However, communication has branched out into many different forms. Over the last few years, digital stickers or emoticons have invaded our language. In fact, some experts believe that emojis have become the new preferred form of “internet slang.” Acronyms like LOL (Laugh Out Loud) have been dethroned.

In fact, AYTM Market Research polled US adult internet users 18+ about emoji usage in text messages and/or in social media posts. eMarketer reported the following findings:

·        14% of respondents use emojis on social media or text messages often

·        22.7% sometimes use the graphics

·        12.2% rarely use them

·        51% responded that they never use emojis

Please note that this does not take into account the younger internet user demo of 12-17 year olds. It’s estimated that the emoticon usage is much higher among that age bracket.

In regards to the adults 18+ demographic, approximately 58.1% utilize five or fewer emojis on a consistent basis.