As every year, the Unicode Consortium analyzed and compiled a list of the most used emojis in 2021. It seems like this year, most of us were “laughing with tears”.
“According to data collected by the Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization responsible for digitizing languages worldwide, the ‘face with tears of joy’ emoji accounted for over 5% of all emoji usage,” wrote Jennifer Daniel, Chair of Unicode Emoji, in a post on the Unicode blog.
Coming in second place is the heart emoji, followed by the rolling on the floor laughing emoji in third, which shows a more excited kind of laughter. Here’s the list of the top ten most used emojis in 2021 compiled by the Unicode Consortium.
1. 😂 (face with tears of joy)
2. ❤️ (heart)
3. 🤣 (rolling on the floor laughing)
4. 👍 (thumbs up)
5. 😭 (loudly crying face)
6. 🙏 (folded hands)
7. 😘 (face blowing a kiss)
8. 🥰 (smiling face with hearts)
9. 😍 (smiling face with heart-eyes)
10. 😊 (smiling face with smiling eyes)
Overall, the emojis most used by internet users last year carried mostly positive emotions. Despite 2021 being a tough year with the COVID-19 pandemic taking a toll on many of us, people still showed optimism and spread positivity to others. The only emoji with a negative tone is the crying face at number five, reflecting a year full of challenges, but in the end, things will get better!
