(Newswire.net — November 9, 2017) — The age-old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is more relevant than ever. Communication is changing, and in the modern world emojis are a massive part of the process. While they may seem like nothing more than silly little symbols, most of us will incorporate them into our writing without even realizing, using them to express emotions, emphasize points and even have full conversations – they’ve even spawned a Hollywood movie!
Emojis are no longer a fad, but a universal language that transcends borders. While it’s easy to shun them as a gimmick for the young, they have been making a huge impact on the way we transmit and perceive information in the digital world. And if we look deeply enough, it’s clear that they will start to have an even greater impact on society in the future, both technologically and linguistically.
Emojis are Already Rewriting the Rules of Technology
Ever since the dawn of the Internet, English has been the dominating language. In fact, when the Domain Name System (DNS) was established, only English (in the form of Latin characters) was supported. Even as late as 2008 just 12 languages accounted for 98 percent of all Internet web pages. Up until recent years, it seemed perfectly viable to prioritize English in computing, or more specifically, the process of domain registration.
But times have changed…
Last year GoDaddy launched a search engine specifically designed for customers who want to find and register emoji-based domain names. However, at present (October 2017), emoji-based top-tier domain names, such as .com and .org, are not available (.ws is one of the few TLDs currently supporting emojis).
Search engines still aren’t designed to find emojis because some of them are indistinguishable in small fonts or differ depending on the viewing platform. As domain names are designed to be distinct, security has held the industry back – confusion could direct users to phishing sites without them even realizing. Although it’s understandable for ICANN – who govern the domain name world – to remain cautious, we are nearing a new era in communication; therefore, these problems and pitfalls need to be addressed rather than ignored.
Despite the lack of established emoji domain names, some companies are already preparing for the future. For example, Apple, who is known for predicting and pioneering trends, recently released a MacBook Pro that features an emoji keyboard in the touch bar; and let’s face it, when Apple does it, others tend to follow. Additionally, Coca Cola and Norwegian Air have dabbled with emoji-based marketing campaigns.
Emoji Domain Names Can Be Extremely Valuable
Just like every other domain on the market, the value of an emoji-based domain name is dependent on its popularity and age, as well as a few other metrics. And even though they’re not in widespread use, many companies have been profiting from them. For example, Punycode.com, which has 13 of only 33 .com emoji domain names in existence, recently purchased emoji.for.sale and emojis.for.sale because keyword domain names (read my previous article) automatically turn into links on Twitter. A short time later Punycode.com sold ☯.com for over $11,000. As nobody can currently register emoji domain names, the few that are available can cost in excess of $800,000.
The world is becoming increasingly connected. Over 60% of North America has a social media account, and more and more people are using smart phones and tablet devices to connect to the Internet. In fact, more connections are now established through mobile technology than desktop computers. So, as the primary universal language in the mobile world, it seems inevitable that the mainstream implementation of emoji-based domain names is coming. However, before that happens, the technology behind the Internet needs a serious update!