Have you ever used 'emoticons'?
Isn't it a bit strange?
In the era of even subscribing to emoticons for a few thousand won a month.
It is said that over 10 million people have used this subscription service at least once.
It has been 11 years since KakaoTalk became the so-called 'national messenger' used by more than 90% of the people, and launched the emoticon market that can be used within the messenger.
These days, it's the era of 'lattes', but I think about 20 years ago, in the early 2000s, that the main language of internet novels that commanded subculture was emoticons (^^, -_-, =_=) using text. If you do, it can be said that it is the evolution of the long family.
Now, emoticons that can be used in the right place in a specific environment are pouring out in consideration of the time, place, and situation.
While communication in the digital space using emoticons has become more sophisticated, the market has also grown rapidly.
According to the Korea Creative Content Agency and Kakao, the size of the domestic emoticon market, which was about 100 billion won in 2017, “jumped” to 700 billion won in 2021, last year.
As more and more users are willing to pay the price of coffee for one emoticon, this field has also become a major channel for individual creators to 'turn in life'.
This <Somehow> is the story of the emoticon market and creators who have achieved rapid growth.
Of course, the 700 billion won market did not happen overnight.
Beyond the era of text emoticons, the era of 'character emoticons' began in earnest with the launch of Naver's Line Friends characters in 2011.
Then, in November 2012, Kakao also launched Kakao Friends.
Since then, the cumulative number of emoticons created only on Kakao has reached 300,000.
Since there are so many news about the so-called 'reversal of life' with the 'rice cake' emoticon, there are about 400-500 products released with the dream of Cheongwoon (retirement?) a month alone.
According to statistics compiled by Kakao in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the market last year, 5 works (they are all different authors) have recorded sales of 10 billion won through emoticon sales.
Returning to the story of 'latte' for a moment, let's dig into the history of emoticons.
As a communication method in the digital environment, emoticons are often classified into three generations.
Following the first-generation emoticons that combined facial expressions using letters and punctuation marks from the keyboard that dominated the early web novel (?) era, the so-called 'basic' and the second-generation emoticons for 'expression' content using graphics , and 3rd-generation emoticons, which are composed of moving gifs, and have secured formal diversity through live action, illustrations, and characters.
'Emoji' is a combination of the English words 'Emotion' and 'Icon', which is a foreign language compound that can be accepted by the public without any discomfort.
In foreign countries, it is more often referred to as 'emoji', but it is often referred to as the same concept with virtually no difference.
However, the dictionary definition is a little different.
According to the Britannica Dictionary, 'emoticons' means expressing emotions using punctuation marks, letters, and numbers.
On the other hand, the etymology of 'emoji' comes from Japanese.
It is a Japanese word originating from the combination of 'e', which means picture, and 'moji,' which means character.
So, if we were to categorize it in a dictionary, the 3rd-generation emoticons that are currently mainstream are called 'emojis', and the 1st-generation emoticons that dominated the web novel era are called 'emojis'.
There is some debate about what the original emoji was.
In 1982, Professor Scott Palman of the Department of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States tried to prevent trivial jokes from causing misunderstanding and spreading into disputes such as ridicule comments on an academic online bulletin board, which can be referred to as a 'community' in today's terms, "If it's a joke :-) The so-called 'orthodoxy' is that it became fashionable while suggesting, "Let's write
Professor Palmen suggested that the sad expression corresponding to a smile be expressed as :-(.
On the other hand, some argue that the history of emoticons preceded this by more than 100 years. March 30, 1881, American satirical magazine Puck It was reported in the British <Daily Mail> that emojis using Morse code were introduced for the first time in the UK in 2015. There are four facial expressions: Joy, Melancholy, Indifference, and Astonishment. Do you think this is the true 'beginning of emoticons'?
The biggest feature of the 3rd generation emoticons that are now mainstream is that almost all kinds of 'hybrids' that can be composed by combining graphics and text are possible.
It has a format that can contain written or spoken language, from short words to as little as one sentence.
The linguistic habit of preferring to be explained or organized with a single emoticon without having to enter a combination of phrases and phrases has also been established with the 'Emoji Subscription Era'.
Emojis with text are also popular.
As of February this year, among the immovable Kakao emoticons combined with the previously released text, the longest attached sentence is 'Hey, what's going on? .
There is also a study showing that the motives for using emoticons differ slightly by age (Heejoo Yoo, 2021).
According to this, as a result of a survey of 187 Korean men and women, 'fun' in their teens and 30s, 'usefulness' in their 20s, and 'friendliness' in their 40s were selected as the biggest factors for emoticon use.
Unlike teenagers who prefer emoticons used with short onomatopoeia and short-answer comments, those in their twenties also tend to prefer conversations related to love and happiness.
On the other hand, it was surveyed that people in their 30s prefer emoticons with alternative personalities in situations where it is difficult to express emotions easily.
Emoticons that exaggerate facial expressions or actions that can take the place of the situation.
It is said that people in their 40s tend to prefer emoticons that convey information rather than expressing emotions and express the exact situation, mainly with greetings.
This means that it contains the concerns and sorrows (?) of Koreans by life cycle.
The more accurately the words that come and go as the subject or pattern of a conversation in a specific situation, such as work life, childcare, part-time job, or dealing with clients, are captured, the more often emoticons replace language, and consequently the possibility of 'rice cake' increases.
In the fierce Red Ocean, the writer of the hit product 'Wada Gom' series, which is holding the top spot for emoticons in their 30s, is essential to forge the laugh codes of the most popular 'memes' and 'messages' through various social media and YouTube channels. Emphasize the routine.
Friends and family alike, it is widely used in the world these days.
Emphasizes that the most important thing for a new artist who wants to enter is 'to bring out the image in your mind'.
Before the launch of a new product, the artist Ding Tong said that she felt colic as the birth of her second baby was imminent, but she slapped her forehead while drawing an emoticon to reduce colic.
(Check out the video mug attached at the top of the article for the story of author Ding Tong!)
The door of 'rice cakes' is wide open to challengers who jump in with enthusiasm, but only a few pass through that door.
A jury of about 10 Kakao employees acts as a gateway to the market by determining the product value of the pouring nominations.
We do not explain the reason to the creators who were dropped out.
The reason is that disclosing the judging criteria and process hinders the diversity of creation of works.
The number of artists who have registered through the narrow door has reached 10,000, from the youngest 12-year-old to the oldest 81-year-old.
Among them, some hit works become brands themselves, and the number of cases where they collaborate with large companies is increasing.
The artist communicates directly with fans to build a fandom, and sometimes becomes a business that sells goods using the character.
The small idea of 'emoticons', which dates back 140 years at the longest and 40 years at the shortest, has been reborn as an opportunity and life for various creators today.
How far can expression evolve?
And what other desires can create new markets?
Now, who have read up to this point, what kind of side job do you want to challenge for 'reversing your life'?
You can check other people's thoughts by voting in the <Somehow> survey on the SBS website.
■ References
Heejoo Lee, <Comparative study of consumer liking by age according to expression types of Kakao emoticons>, 2021.
Soyoung Kim, <Study on the language characteristics of KakaoTalk emoticons>, 2022.
Youngil Hong, <The Effect of Emoticon Expression Types on User Satisfaction Factors>, 2022. Eun-Je
Yoo, <Consumer Response Study on KakaoTalk’s Popular Emoticon Illustrations>, 2019.
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