Emojis have become a part of our communication. Though it started with personal communications, it has now entered the realm of business communications. You might have seen them appearing on your business emails, instant messaging platforms or project management applications.
They are not simple expressions of emotions, but often carry deep meanings and their connotations can vary according to the different cultural contexts in which they are used. They can also look completely different in different platforms or devices.
WeChat emojis
It is almost impossible to chat with the Chinese without emojis. They make constant appearance in their personal and business communications. Therefore WeChat, the most popular instant messaging app in China, has huge collection of emojis. Some emotions and their nuances can only be explained with the emojis available in WeChat.
WeChat emojis that are being widely used in China and emojis that are used in the western world have a lot of cultural disparities. Understanding those difference could be handy if you are a business that wants to make inroads into China. WeChat and other Chinese instant messaging apps have a more emojis that show respect or embarrassment, because Chinese culture gives a lot of importance to humility. At the same time, many WeChat emojis have no western equivalents and hence it could be challenging for the west to understand Chinese emojis that are in use in WeChat.
WeChat also has hidden emojis that appear during months of festivities. It also gives users an option to create their own custom stickers and record their own stickers. In WeChat you can also put your favorite stickers on the top.
In January 2020, WeChat released 10 new emojis including Onlooker, emm, wow, respect, sweat, got for it, OMG, no prob, my bad and doge. Android users must update the WeChat app and iOS users must try resigning into the app if the new emojis aren’t seen in the app.
WhatsApp emojis
Studies have proved that emojis in WhatsApp play a significant role in making textual communication more meaningful and interactive. It makes messages as rich and authentic as face-to-face communications. Though WhatsApp emojis convey a lot of emotions and make communication more meaningful, it cannot replace face-to-face interactions.
In 2017 WhatsApp created its own range of emojis by shunning those created by Apple or Samsung. Before the introduction of the new emojis, WhatsApp was using emojis similar to that of Apple, even in their Android and Windows platforms. Experts believed that WhatsApp wanted to extricate itself from relying on emojis created by third parties. In 2019, WhatsApp had introduced new skins for 6 emojis.
In addition to the emojis, WhatsApp also has the option to send gifs and stickers. There are applications available that work with WhatsApp, so that you can make your stickers and gifs.
Emojis and legal compliance
Capturing, interpreting and producing emojis are important as far as message archival compliance is concerned.
First of all, an enterprise must capture the emojis as they appeared to the platform user in a communication. It is advisable to capture all iterations of the emoji as the user saw it. It can be captured in the HTML format or can be captured using an API.
The emojis must be referred to in a consistent format that anyone can follow and understand. An enterprise must also communicate the meaning of the emoji as per the context of the communication and explain to the court, if required, what an emoji meant to the sender and recipient.
Emojis in different apps and their unicode
As mentioned earlier, emojis appear differently in different platforms and devices. Here you can find full emoji list, their comparison in different apps and their Unicode.
About TeleMessage
TeleMessage captures and retains mobile content, including mobile SMS messages, voice calls, and WeChat conversations from corporate or BYOD mobile phones to ensure compliance with various data protection regulations. The messages are securely and reliably retained within TeleMessage servers or forwarded to your choice archiving data storage vendor.
Our mobile archiving products securely record content from mobile carriers and mobile devices for various ownership models (BYOD, CYOD, and employer-issued). With our multiple archiving solutions, you can always find the right tools or blend for your requirements:
TeleMessage offers cross-carrier and international mobile text & calls archiving for corporate and BYOD phones. Visit our website at www.telemessage.com to learn more about our mobile archiving products.
