by Jason Snell
Using emojis to describe the COVID-19 outbreak
The entire world is in the midst of massive disruption due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. I enjoyed Emojipedia’s analysis of which emojis are being used to discuss the outbreak. The results will probably not surprise you:
Of the increases we see 😷 Face with Medical Mask (+ 100 places in popularity between the samples) 🦠Microbe (+133), as well as eye-catching “warning” emojis such as 🔴 Red Circle (+64), 🚨 Police Car Light (+102), and âš ï¸ Warning (+122). Additionally, the presence of 🇮🇹 Flag: Italy coincides with news of a regional quarantine in northern Italy.
As always, Emojipedia brings a light touch into a serious topic. I especially appreciated the details of how the Microbe emoji is depicted across various emoji sets. Only the Apple emoji looks like a weird fish.