Like it or not, pictures are becoming an bigger part of how we communicate. Reach a milestone and more smartphone users are just as likely to send out a few thumbs-up emojis or a photo on Snapchat, as they are plain old text.
Matt Gray and Tom Scott think it’s time to get rid of words altogether, with a new social network they’re preparing to launch called Emoj.li. The social network's users will communicate entirely in those tiny, cartoonish icons people sometimes use to express an idea, or add some frivolity to a conversation.
So far 10,000 people have signed up for emoji-only user names and, the duo's teaser video (below) claims their app will be available on iOS “very soon.”
Gray and Scott aren’t taking themselves or their product too seriously, but emojis and digital stickers are becoming a bigger talking point in the mobile messaging space.
The trend of emoji-chatting is already huge in Asia, where smartphone users are known to hold entire conversations using only the icons, or larger digital stickers which sometimes have a price tag. Gray and Scott’s new app could be one way to train smartphone users outside the region to do the same thing.
And if they get real scale, there’s money-making potential: already a handful of digital-sticker publishers are striking revenue sharing deals with big brands, and Japanese messaging app LINE sold $70 million worth of digital stickers in 2013.
For now, Emoj.li’s creators just need to get their app off the ground. Here’s what they had to say in response to questions. Naturally the last few are entirely in emoji, with a little deciphering where needed:
What are your backgrounds in terms of career / programming?
Matt's a professional broadcast engineer working in radio, and Tom… makes web stuff. He doesn't really have a better job description than that.
Why did you decide to create an emoji-only social network and what gave you the idea?
It came out of two stories: comedy social network Yo, and the Unicode consortium's new emojis. The two of us had the idea at about the same time -- we weren't sold on it until we realized that usernames should be emoji too. At that point, we burst out laughing and realized we had to build it.
Will you allow Emoj.li network to sync up with other messaging services like Kik or WeChat as a kind of extension to those services - or do you intend to be stand-alone?
We haven't even thought that far ahead, but we'll be launching as stand-alone
Have you started using / testing the service yourself, and what is it like using it?
The app's still in development at the moment, so we haven't got to a full-on testing stage yet.
