{"id":3800,"date":"2019-02-04T06:26:18","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T06:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/safeguardinghub.co.uk\/?p=3800"},"modified":"2022-04-01T12:43:23","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T12:43:23","slug":"not-all-emojis-are-cute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/safeguardinghub.co.uk\/not-all-emojis-are-cute\/","title":{"rendered":"Not all emojis are cute"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Safeguarding Hub \u2013 10-minute briefing.<\/h6>\n

There are plenty of online resources offering help to parents and safeguarding professionals on how to keep children safe on the internet. However, identifying whether a child may have an issue is more complicated, particularly where kids use their own online language. Emojis are just part of the new vocabulary. This short article is to highlight how some emojis can pose a danger to young people and what you can do to put yourself in the best position to recognise the good from the bad.<\/p>\n

On 17th<\/sup> July each year the planet celebrates \u2018World Emoji Day\u2019. Never heard of it? Well neither had we until we decided to write this article. It is an indicator of how huge and popular using emojis have now become. Whether used in traditional SMS text, instant messaging or on social media, emojis are everywhere. According to Facebook, 60 million emojis are used daily on their site, whilst 5 billion are used on its Messenger service. Add other major social media networks into the mix and emoji use is off the scale. They are now firmly embedded in popular culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t10 facts about emojis \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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  1. Emojis originated in Japan in 1997.<\/li>\n
  2. There is no single first emoji. Initially a set of 176 emojis were released. However, Shigetaka Kurita the Japanese artist who invented them, personally credits the heart emoji as \u201cwhere it all began\u201d.<\/li>\n
  3. The word emoji does not actually derive its name from the word \u2018emotion\u2019. Instead it stems from the Japanese (language: e<\/em> (\u7d75) meaning \u201c\u2019picture\u2019 and moji<\/em> (\u6587\u5b57) meaning \u2018character\u2019.<\/li>\n
  4. The Oxford English definition of an emoji is: \u201ca small digital image or icon used to express an idea or emotion\u201d.<\/em><\/li>\n
  5. In 2015, Emoji was named the fastest growing language.<\/li>\n
  6. The Emogi (correct spelling) Research Team estimated that 2.3 Trillion emojis were sent in 2016.<\/li>\n
  7. The most used emoji across all platforms is the \u2018tears of joy\u2019 face.<\/li>\n
  8. In the 2018 World Emoji Awards (yes there is one), the Best New Emoji award went to the exploding head\/brain emoji.<\/li>\n
  9. At least 157 new emojis were approved in 2018.<\/li>\n
  10. One day a year sees the most emoji usage \u2013 New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
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    How can they be harmful?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Statistics show that the majority of emoji users are aged 24-years and under. For young people a combination of slang words, text jargon, acronyms, hashtags and emojis provide them with a form of communication that many adults struggle to understand. It is an extensive and evolving vocabulary, a form of secret code. Whilst, they may be quick, easy and fun to use, the original meanings of many emojis have been adapted and altered, to hide conversations young people don\u2019t want us to see.<\/p>\n

    Used in the wrong way and by someone with malicious or exploitative intentions, even the most innocent of emojis can be become threatening, coercive and harmful. Emojis used for this purpose are commonly associated with online predators and child sexual exploitation. However, they are also prevalent when it comes to cyberbullying, self-harm and violence between gangs. Many individual emojis have multiple meanings. The images below gives you a sampler of how emojis are used for sexual and exploitative purposes. Examples can include:<\/p>\n

    Cyberbullying emojis<\/strong>\"\"<\/h3>\n