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It’s #WorldEmojiDay. Here’s a look at how Baltimore orgs are celebrating 🎉

We turned to Twitter to see which expressions are marking the day. Plus, a brief history of Baltimore-specific emoji creation.

By:
Stephen Babcock headshot
Stephen Babcock,  @stephenbabcock
Jul 17, 2019 2:03pm

There’s no need to use words to describe how you’re feeling today, as #WorldEmojiDay is here to let the tiny pictures do the talking.

At the Technical.ly newsroom, the occasion has us thinking about how each of the local communities we cover are represented. And we’re not the only ones. The Baltimore community has plenty to share about emoji today, including fun facts.

For Baltimore, the emoji keyboard itself has an often-picked favorite with the crab emoji. Its addition by Unicode Consortium was welcomed especially around these parts in 2015.

As The Baltimore Sun reported earlier this year, a flamingo (like the plastic version on Hampden lawns) and an oyster (like the ones in the Chesapeake) are also joining the mix this year, giving another chance to find local options among the universal offerings.

Apart from Unicode, we’ve also seen a few customized sets of Baltimore-specific emoji in the last few years. Baltimore in a Box released a complete package of local icons, while Baltimore native and swimming legend Michael Phelps released Phelpsmoji in the run-up to his latest Olympic appearance. We also can’t help but recall the #BIW15 T-shirt (pictured above), the first in a series for the annual tech community gathering.

Speaking of purple, the Baltimore Ravens also have their own emoji keyboard, and put out the call to fans to use it to express themselves.

For its part, Johns Hopkins University has a role in the development of one emoji. The Baltimore university’s Center for Communication Programs was one of the key players creating buzz for the mosquito emoji, which first appeared last year. It gives public health officials an easy way to communicate about mosquito-borne disease.

As Baltimore’s Kennedy Krieger Institute highlights, emoji are getting more inclusive as they grow.

They can also show connection to a community.

Elsewhere, Baltimore organizations are celebrating by describing how they see themselves through emojis …

… or providing a new way to describe the activities and friends of every day life.

https://twitter.com/BonSecours/status/1151491809660588032

It’s also a gateway to some local culture coming up this fall.

And when it comes to the weather on a hot day, emoji provide an easy way to communicate what it “feels like.”

Tags: Social media

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