Once a year, some of the most powerful people in the world gather in one room. Everything they talk about is top secret. The decisions they make will affect you—and billions of others.

    Who are these people? What mysterious work are they doing? 

    They are the Unicode Consortium. And they are in charge of the world’s emojis.

    Once a year, some very powerful people gather in one room. What they talk about is top secret. They make decisions that will affect you and billions of others.

    Who are these people? What are they doing?

    They are the Unicode Consortium. They are in charge of the world’s emojis.

    Once a year, some of the most powerful people in the world gather in one room to have a top- secret conversation. The decisions they make will affect you—and billions of others.

    Who are these people, and what mysterious work are they doing?

    They are the Unicode Consortium, the group responsible for the world’s emojis.

    The Unicode Consortium is a nonprofit organization. It’s made up mostly of leaders from tech companies such as Apple, Google, and Spotify. The Consortium has been managing emojis since 2010. Every year, members of the Consortium meet. They vote on new emojis to create. Those emojis are later added to our devices.

    This job may seem frivolous. After all, the Consortium creates things like 😺. But it’s an important job. Emojis are the most popular form of visual communication in history. They’re also the fastest growing.

    Ninety-two percent of people online use emojis. Billions of them are sent every day.

    Why are emojis so popular?

    The answer is simple. They help us communicate.

    Today we often communicate by text and on social media. Emojis let us add emotion. They let us add nuance. They’re like a digital form of body language. This is helpful when someone can’t see or hear us. Did something make us laugh? We send 😂. Are we upset? We send 😢. These pictures can say it all.

    The Unicode Consortium is a nonprofit organization made up mostly of leaders from tech companies such as Apple, Google, and Spotify. The Consortium has been managing emojis since 2010. Every year, part of the Consortium meets and votes on which new emojis should be created. Those emojis later get added to our devices.

    This job may seem frivolous—after all, the Consortium creates things like 👻 and 😺—but it’s actually quite important. Emojis are the most popular and fastest-growing form of visual communication in history.

    Ninety-two percent of people online use emojis. Each day, billions of these tiny pictures are sent around the world.

    Why are emojis so popular?

    The answer is simple: They help us communicate.

    Today we often talk to each other through texts and social media. Emojis help us add emotion and nuance to what we write. They’re almost like a digital form of body language, which is valuable when the person we’re talking to can’t see or hear us. If something makes us laugh, we send 😂. If we’re upset, we send 😢. These pictures can say it all.

    The first emojis were created in 1999.They were made by a designer in Japan named Shigetaka Kurita. But the idea of using pictures to communicate has been around for thousands of years.

    Early humans told stories by painting images on the walls of caves. Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphs. (That’s a system of writing made up of pictures and symbols.) Even today, some tribes in Australia draw pictures in the sand as they speak.

    Still, no visual language has been as widely used as emojis. So how does an emoji go from an idea to a tiny picture on your phone?

    Shigetaka Kurita is a designer in Japan. He created the first emojis in 1999. But people have been using pictures to communicate for thousands of years.

    Early humans painted images on cave walls. They told a story. Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphs. (That’s a writing system that uses pictures and symbols.) Today some tribes in Australia draw in the sand as they speak.

    But emojis are the most widely used visual language ever. So how are they made?

    The first emojis were created in 1999 by a designer in Japan named Shigetaka Kurita. But the idea of using pictures to communicate has been around for thousands of years.

    Early humans told stories by painting images on the walls of caves. Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphs, a system of writing made up of pictures and symbols. Even today, some tribes in Australia draw pictures in the sand as they speak.

    Still, no visual language has been as widely used as emojis. So how does an emoji go from an idea to a tiny picture on your phone?

    Each emoji starts as a written proposal. Committee members look at the proposals. They consider several things. Emojis should be easy to recognize. They should be useful. They should not include a company logo or show a real person.

    The Consortium makes sure emojis show different kinds of people. In 2015, emojis became available in a range of skin colors. In 2017, a girl wearing a hijab was added. (A hijab is a head covering. It’s worn by some Muslim women.) In 2019, people in wheelchairs were added.

    The Consortium doesn’t think of all the ideas. Anyone can send a proposal to the Consortium. The hijab emoji was the idea of a 16-year-old girl. She is from Saudi Arabia.

    In 2024, 164 new emojis were proposed. They included an orca, an apple core, and a treasure chest. What emojis do you think the world needs? Send a proposal to the Consortium. You might see your idea on your phone one day. •

    Each emoji starts as a written proposal. When looking at proposals, committee members consider several things. Emojis should be easy to recognize, and they should be useful. The Consortium does not accept anything that includes a company logo or shows a real person.

    The Consortium also tries to make sure that emojis show all different kinds of people. There is still work to be done in this area, but progress has been made. In 2015, emojis became available in a range of skin colors, and in 2017, a girl wearing a hijab (a head covering worn by some Muslim women) was added. In 2019, people in wheelchairs were added.

    The Consortium doesn’t come up with all these ideas on its own. It depends on us. Anyone can send in an emoji proposal. The hijab emoji was suggested by a 16-year-old girl from Saudi Arabia.

    In 2024, 164 new emojis were proposed, including an orca, an apple core, and a treasure chest. What emojis do you think the world needs next? Send a proposal to the Consortium—and you might just see your idea on your phone one day.