Science

Microbe, Italian flag and medical mask emojis see a spike in use during the coronavirus pandemic


Revealed: The microbe, Italian flag and medical mask are among the emojis used most in tweets about the coronavirus but the two laughing emojis top study as people use them to make light of the pandemic

  • A report analyzed over 200,000 tweets to see which emojis people are using
  • The two laughing faces topped the chart, but are usually the most popular
  • But the report says people may be using them to make light of the pandemic
  • The medical mask and microbe have seen a spike since January 2020 

Words cannot describe the coronavirus infecting the globe and people are turning to emojis as a way to share their feelings about the pandemic.

Emojipedia analyzed over 200,000 tweets referencing ‘coronavirus’ or ‘COVID’ from March 7th to 8th to determine the most popular pictographs being used.

The data showed the two laughing emojis topped the charts, followed by the medical mask, thinking face and microbe.

Although the laughing faces are normally the most popular, the report suggests people may be using them to joke or make light of coronavirus-related news as a way to cope with outbreak. 

The report also ranked which country’s flags appeared the most, with top results including those hit hardest by the virus – Italy, China, the US, France. and Spain.

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Emojipedia analyzed over 200,000 tweets referencing 'coronavirus' or 'COVID' from March 7th to 8th to determine the most popular pictographs being used. The data showed the two laughing emojis topped the charts, followed by the medical mask, thinking face and microbe

Emojipedia analyzed over 200,000 tweets referencing ‘coronavirus’ or ‘COVID’ from March 7th to 8th to determine the most popular pictographs being used. The data showed the two laughing emojis topped the charts, followed by the medical mask, thinking face and microbe

The coronavirus has been plaguing the globe since December 2019.

It began in Wuhan, China and has quickly infected nearly every country in the world.

As of Thursday evening, more than 937,500 cases have been reported and over 47,200 people have lost their lives.

As people’s fears and emotions get the best of them, they are turning to social media to express themselves – and are using emojis to do so.

The spike in the use of the medical mask and microbe began at the end of January, when the virus became well-known to the public and skyrocketed this month, which may have been due to most of the countries currently battling the virus

The spike in the use of the medical mask and microbe began at the end of January, when the virus became well-known to the public and skyrocketed this month, which may have been due to most of the countries currently battling the virus

The microbe and medical mask were also the most sick-related emojis used in tweets referencing the coronavirus

The microbe and medical mask were also the most sick-related emojis used in tweets referencing the coronavirus

Emojipedia collected and analyzed 205,576 tweets which referenced either ‘Coronavirus’ or ‘COVID-19’, in order to determine which emojis are most popular in discussions of this topic.

The data showed the two laughing emojis topped the charts, followed by the thinking medical mask, thinking face and microbe.

The list also includes the loudly crying face, police car light, warning and the Italian flag.

Emojipedia believes the two crying faces are at the top because they ‘are consistently popular; People are specifically joking and making light of coronavirus-related news; or a combination of the above, or other factors.

The spike in the use of the medical mask and microbe began at the end of January, when the virus became well-known to the public and skyrocketed this month, which may have been due to most of the countries currently battling the virus.

As of Thursday evening, more than 937,500 cases have been reported and over 47,200 people have lost their lives to the coronavirus. As people's fears and emotions get the best of them, they are turning to social media to express themselves – and are using emojis to do so

As of Thursday evening, more than 937,500 cases have been reported and over 47,200 people have lost their lives to the coronavirus. As people’s fears and emotions get the best of them, they are turning to social media to express themselves – and are using emojis to do so

‘The fact that so few other topics are discussed using these emojis indicates that, at least at the time of writing, these are the coronavirus emojis as far as the general public is concerned,’ Emojipedia wrote.

The report also ranked which country’s flags appeared the most.

Italy was the most used, followed by China, the US, France and Spain – all of which have experienced the most cases and deaths during the pandemic.

 



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