[kalleboo]

> It skews young and/or Western

How does it skew Western when they were literally invented in Japan?

[cattlefarmer]

Yes, emoji is literally Japanese. 絵文字 meaning 'picture as words'. Invented for use in Japanese pagers, later proliferating to mobile phones long before smartphones even existed [0].

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji

[mondaygreens]

I know, but was speaking more to adoption and usage. Obviously it's my impression, and it informs my vote.