Article by Kotie Geldenhuys
Photos/images courtesy of Freepik
Almost everyone uses emojis as playful add-ons to digital messages. It has evolved into a powerful form of communication in our increasingly online world. From the simple thumbs-up to the ambiguous upside-down face, these tiny symbols carry emotional weight, cultural nuance and even legal implications. But are we all speaking the same emoji language? As communication shifts from words to visuals, experts warn that little smiley faces might not mean what most people think they do.
In ancient times, people communicated through pictures. Take as examples Bushman rock art and Egyptian hieroglyphs. As humanity evolved, so did language, eventually leading to the use of the alphabet as we know it today. But thousands of years later, the Western 26-letter alphabet and how we communicate have transformed dramatically with the rise of emojis, small digital icons that have reshaped modern conversation. These expressive images are not just the domain of playful texts and casual captions; they are a fully-fledged language, rich in nuance and sometimes, controversy. While both children and adults incorporate emojis into everyday communication, Gen Z and their younger counterparts, Gen Alpha, are the reigning champions of emoji fluency.
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[This is only an extract of an article published in Servamus: October 2025. This article is available for purchase.]