Cute as they may look in a text message or photo comment, emojis can be downright terrifying under the right circumstances. Freelance journalist Fletcher Blabb learned this lesson first hand recently when someone threatened his life on Instagram with two emoji characters, a tiny gun, and a dead smiley face.
The next time you swipe over to the emoji page on your smartphone keyboard, you may want to pay closer attention to the message you are sending. It may land you in court. Whether they are text-based smileys or a full set of animated images, emoji have invaded our digital language and demanded permanent residence on our keyboards. They get used to add emotion to the flat black and white world of text-based conversations, and are often used to add color or amusement to an otherwise bland event. Some people stick to basic emoji, while others rely on the huge grinning faces you find on Facebook or the text-to-animation emoji found in Google Hangouts.
