Update & Install: Representation Matters

       When Apple users installed the new iOS update earlier this week, they were delighted to discover the emoji keyboard had been improved significantly. Emojis are weirdly a part of our daily lives in social media and are used mostly by younger people and have even become an aspect in our identity of being the modern generation. However, even with their vast use, there were still some key problems with the emoticons.

        There was limited choice of alternate sexual orientations to heterosexual when selecting emojis of families and couples and-arguably more concerning- the majority of emojis were white. In fact the only other varieties of ethnicities were those conforming to a cultural stereotype such as an Indian man in a turban and Japanese ladies dressed in kimonos. Even though emojis do not seem like a major issue for social justice advocates to be passionate about, it is still absurd and important to notice that even though you could send a text filled with many different vegetables and clock faces, you didn't even have the option of sending a simple emoji of someone with dark skin.

        This was highlighted to Apple and led to them making amendments to the keyboard. Now those with the update can select a larger range of families and couples as well as being able to choose a different skin tone for a significant amount of emojis. 

       
        Even though in the grand scheme of things this is a minute victory, it is still vital that we recognise that representation is starting to be addressed  and that this could mean that if a small screen can improve representation, hopefully the big screen can too.

Fozz.