To celebrate World Emoji Day on Saturday, Emojipedia is all set to launch a series of new inclusive emojis.

According to a draft list by the Unicode Consortium, which is in charge of approving emojis and icons for use, the emojis which will hit phones over the next year include designs like a pregnant man and a multiracial handshake.

This update is part of the consortium’s bid to complete their emoji sets by offering not just feminine and masculine, but also gender-neutral variants of every available emoji.

The emojis will feature a selection of skin tones and also have representation for trans and nonbinary pregnancies, with two new gender variants being made available for the “pregnant woman” emoji. &nbsp;

Illustrated by Unicode, these updates will also add gender-neutral royalty via a “person with crown” emoji, which will be joining the pre-existing “prince” and “princess” emojis.

Emojipedia's chief emoji officer, Jeremy Burge, says that adding gender-neutral options to nearly all emojis will give users the option to select a woman or man depending on the situation, as with the "bearded person" emoji in January.&nbsp;

Several emojis are still without gender-neutral options, largely because it's not entirely clear what constitutes a gender-neutral approach.&nbsp;

For instance, the two dancer emojis have proven to be headscratchers. Currently, the two dancer emojis depicts a male disco dancer and a female flamenco dancer.

Several options were suggested to make these more gender-neutral. One suggestion was introducing identically dressed gender options for the same emoji, so in addition to the female flamenco dancer dressed in red, we could have a male dressed in a red dress dancing.

<img alt="Unicode gender dancing emoji options" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e7cb376d-ccdb-49f9-8147-a29fd03274cb" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/unicode-gender-dancer-emoji.jpg" />

Options for a gender-inclusive dancer emoji. (Image: Emojipedia)

Another option was offering gender-appropriate additions, so in addition to the red dress-wearing female dancer, we could have a male flamenco dancer, dressed in the traditional flamenco garbs.

The final preferred option was the addition of a gender-neutral version of a dancing style, for which breakdancing has been suggested by Emojipedia.

The draft list also contains handshakes between two hands with different skin tones, along with an emoji depicting the popular hands making a heart shape, additional faces like “peeking eye” or peeking through the fingers, “saluting”, and “holding back tears”.

Other additions consist of &nbsp;20 new icons that include a “coral” emoji which can be used to depict climate change, playground slide, x-ray and empty battery.

Each year as part of its process, Unicode opens its draft icons to public comment before approving them for use in September.

Once the emojis are approved, it is up to the device manufacturers when to make them available to users.

To celebrate World Emoji Day on Saturday, Emojipedia is all set to launch a series of new inclusive emojis. According to a draft list by the Unicode Consortium, which is in charge of approving emojis and icons for use, the emojis which will hit phones over the next year include designs like a pregnant man and a multiracial handshake.

To celebrate World Emoji Day on Saturday, Emojipedia is all set to launch a series of new inclusive emojis. According to a draft list by the Unicode Consortium, which is in charge of approving emojis and icons for use, the emojis which will hit phones over the next year include designs like a pregnant man and a multiracial handshake. This update is part of the consortium’s bid to complete their emoji sets by offering not just feminine and masculine, but also gender-neutral variants of every available emoji. The emojis will feature a selection of skin tones and also have representation for trans and nonbinary pregnancies, with two new gender variants being made available for the “pregnant woman” emoji. Illustrated by Unicode, these updates will also add gender-neutral royalty via a “person with crown” emoji, which will be joining the pre-existing “prince” and “princess” emojis. Emojipedia's chief emoji officer, Jeremy Burge, says that adding gender-neutral options to nearly all emojis will give users the option to select a woman or man depending on the situation, as with the "bearded person" emoji in January. Several emojis are still without gender-neutral options, largely because it's not entirely clear what constitutes a gender-neutral approach. For instance, the two dancer emojis have proven to be headscratchers. Currently, the two dancer emojis depicts a male disco dancer and a female flamenco dancer. Several options were suggested to make these more gender-neutral. One suggestion was introducing identically dressed gender options for the same emoji, so in addition to the female flamenco dancer dressed in red, we could have a male dressed in a red dress dancing. Options for a gender-inclusive dancer emoji. (Image: Emojipedia) Another option was offering gender-appropriate additions, so in addition to the red dress-wearing female dancer, we could have a male flamenco dancer, dressed in the traditional flamenco garbs. The final preferred option was the addition of a gender-neutral version of a dancing style, for which breakdancing has been suggested by Emojipedia. The draft list also contains handshakes between two hands with different skin tones, along with an emoji depicting the popular hands making a heart shape, additional faces like “peeking eye” or peeking through the fingers, “saluting”, and “holding back tears”. Other additions consist of 20 new icons that include a “coral” emoji which can be used to depict climate change, playground slide, x-ray and empty battery. Each year as part of its process, Unicode opens its draft icons to public comment before approving them for use in September. Once the emojis are approved, it is up to the device manufacturers when to make them available to users.

'Pregnant man': Ahead of Emoji day launch, gender-neutral emojis unveiled

A sentiment analysis performed by emojipedia finds that positive emoji use is on the decrease, while the total number of emojis sent in our communications continues to rise.

Analyzing 68 million unique tweets, a number of patterns have emerged which go some way toward reflecting the global mood and how we communicate in the ''new normal''&nbsp;of 2020.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/2021-no-new-emojis-to-be-launched-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-292197">2021: No new emojis to be launched due to coronavirus pandemic</a>

Charted below are these three groups of smileys, shown as a percentage of all individual emoji instances during four selected time frames between August 2018 and April 2020.

<img alt="Emoji" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="412d84b9-df2a-405c-8ddc-487c89488509" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Capture%20324.PNG" /> 
The emoji sentiment on Twitter reveals that the relative use of positive emojis is down, while negative emojis have seen a slight increase.

Between August 2019 and April 2020 the percentage of all individual positive smiley instances decreased from 29.92 per cent&nbsp;to 28.12 per cent, a relative decrease of 5.63 per cent.

What this data also shows is that positive expressions remain the most popular type of smiley. These never dropped below 28 per cent&nbsp;of all emoji instances throughout the period measured.

While it's impossible to determine all reasons behind any sentiment shift, this change could be a result of fewer positive tweets due to the current global pandemic, especially as the largest relative drop was seen in the most recent period.

A sentiment analysis performed by emojipedia finds that positive emoji use is on the decrease, while the total number of emojis sent in our communications continues to rise.

A sentiment analysis performed by emojipedia finds that positive emoji use is on the decrease, while the total number of emojis sent in our communications continues to rise. Analyzing 68 million unique tweets, a number of patterns have emerged which go some way toward reflecting the global mood and how we communicate in the ''new normal'' of 2020. Also read: 2021: No new emojis to be launched due to coronavirus pandemic Charted below are these three groups of smileys, shown as a percentage of all individual emoji instances during four selected time frames between August 2018 and April 2020. The emoji sentiment on Twitter reveals that the relative use of positive emojis is down, while negative emojis have seen a slight increase. Between August 2019 and April 2020 the percentage of all individual positive smiley instances decreased from 29.92 per cent to 28.12 per cent, a relative decrease of 5.63 per cent. What this data also shows is that positive expressions remain the most popular type of smiley. These never dropped below 28 per cent of all emoji instances throughout the period measured. While it's impossible to determine all reasons behind any sentiment shift, this change could be a result of fewer positive tweets due to the current global pandemic, especially as the largest relative drop was seen in the most recent period.

Use of positive emojis in communication declines amid coronavirus pandemic

emojipedia

Emojipedia, News on Emojipedia, stories on Emojipedia, articles on Emojipedia, Emojipedia stories at Wion, Emojipedia news, Emojipedia latest news