[bb123]

I think it goes back a lot longer than that - humans have been using symbols to express feelings for thousands of years. Written language is really the child of that. Personally I think humans will always communicate via little pictogram symbols, regardless of how perfect written communication with words is. There is something very innate about two eyes and an upward curved line meaning happy - and lots of similar examples. Emojis are just a form of this.

[duncanawoods]

True but I don’t think any pictogram language has ever been as ugly as emoji. It’s the “programmer art” of pictograms. Brushes and carving seem to be helpful design constraints to drive restraint, regularity and simplicity.