They are small, they are colorful and an important part of internet culture: 74 percent of people in Germany use emojis. Some German citizens can no longer do without the symbols. More than a fifth (22 percent) now use emojis in every message - and 25 percent at least in the majority of their messages. 18 percent only place smileys, hearts, etc. in a few messages - and 9 percent in hardly any. These are the results of a representative survey of 1,004 people in Germany aged 16 and over, which was carried out on behalf of the digital association Bitkom on the occasion of World Emoji Day on July 17th.
Accordingly, emojis are primarily used by users in messenger services such as WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram (77 percent). 49 percent garnish their posts on social networks with it. A fifth (20 percent) also add emojis to classic SMS messages and 16 percent use them in emails. Even in video conferences, people use emoji to give applause and give out hearts or smiling faces: 10 percent use this function. These are definitely professional conversations: a total of 69 percent of professionals who use emojis also do so at work. Most of them (42 percent) with colleagues, 31 percent even with superiors and 21 percent with customers or business partners. Respondents were able to provide several options here.
42 percent often simply respond with emojis
Emojis don't always just make communication easier: for half of all Germans (49 percent), emojis have also caused confusion in conversations - regardless of whether they were received or sent messages. At the same time, 49 percent also say: Emojis help to understand others better. 42 percent often simply answer messages with emojis, which in turn makes 46 percent feel annoyed. One in eight (12 percent) generally finds emojis annoying. However, emojis have now made the leap from the digital to the analogue world: 32 percent, for example, use smiling faces and other symbols handwritten in letters or postcards.
Note on methodology: The information is based on a survey that Bitkom Research conducted on behalf of the digital association Bitkom. 1,004 people in Germany aged 16 and over were interviewed by telephone. The survey is representative. The questions were: “How often do you use emojis?”, “And where do you use emojis?”, “In which of the following conversations do you use emojis?” “Which statements about emojis do you agree or disagree with?”
Also read: The nasty strategy behind the laugh emojis
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

