These were the most used emoticons in 2021

Emoji, emoticons or smilies have been a standard part of text communication on Android smartphones for years. Portal AndroidPolice revealed which of them were the most used this year.

The most used emoticons will not surprise you too much

The portal is based on research mapped by the consortium in its annual report Unicode. It is this institution that is in charge of standardizing this type of communication. The annual report also compares the development of used smileys compared to previous years. According to the results, it can be said that not much has changed at the top of the ranking compared to 2019 and 2020. The most commonly used is a laughing face, whose laughter turns into crying.

The most used emoticons in 2021:

1. 😂 – A face with tears of joy
2. ❤️ – Red heart
3. 🤣 – ROFL – Winding from laughter on the floor
4. 👍 – Thumbs up
5. 😭 – Loudly crying face
6. 🙏 – Folded palms
7. 😘 – Air kiss
8. 🥰 – Smiling face with hearts
9. 😍 – A smiling face with loving eyes
10. 😊 – A smiling face with smiling eyes

What else did the research reveal?

This year’s results are proof that people tend to use universally attractive emoticons with multiple meanings. For example, emoticons with folded palms (🙏) can mean prayer, but they are also often used as an acronym for gratitude. The fact that there are simpler and better-known emoticons at the forefront may be the influence of older people who are afraid to experiment with smileys.

There are several other interesting findings in the report. Specific emoticons such as flat shoes (🥿) are not very common. Country flags are also among the least popular emoticons. This is despite the fact that they contain the largest collection of 258 individual options. Biceps (zase), in turn, is the most commonly used emoticon depicting a body part and is commonly used to indicate strength or success.

The bouquet (💐) is often used for congratulations, celebrations or to express romantic affection. The butterfly (🦋) is the most commonly used animal emoji and should represent change, beauty and nature. Interestingly, the most used sporting emoji is the person making the star (🤸). It should show happiness and joy.