[ziml77]

I'm not sure why a bunch of commenters are dismissing the idea of hiding faces by placing emoji over them. That's already a thing. I see it a lot on photos that are shared online. It's a good alternatives to having to carefully frame or crop an image to hide objects and faces you don't want others to see.

[micheljansen]

As a parent of a preschooler I can confirm this is definitely a thing. We have decided to do what we can to avoid our child’s life being subject to data mining or the creation of shadow profiles by whatever company (past or present) thinks it can profit from it. We always cover his face with an emoji. So do most of the parents in our social circle.

[ectopod]

To turn it round, do you spend time looking at other people's emoji-obscured photos?

I don't, so I can't see the point of posting them because I don't imagine that anyone would look at them. But I could well be wrong.

[micheljansen]

Given that it’s mostly used on Instagram: sure! It’s a picture-first medium after all. Obviously portraits are rare, but it’s quite common to see posts of their kids doing something adorable with just the tiny portion of the picture that contains a face covered. Plenty remains to see.