Facebook adds sound effects to emojis, Adobe report says smileys have the power to invoke empathy

The jury is still out on whether “an emojis can speak a thousand words,” but it can surely strengthen bonds, bring gender-inclusivity and invoke empathy.

Ahead of the World Emoji Day celebration, Adobe released a 2021 Global Emoji Trend Report, which surveyed 7,000 people in the U.S., the UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, and South Korea - understanding the role of emojis. The study found:

• Emojis compel people to feel empathy, the most important aspect of communication, towards others
• Most emojis are focused on positive emotions, and hence adding them into conversations will make you appear polite
• Emojis can help people overcome language barriers and form connections
• Emojis can advocate gender-inclusivity

Meanwhile, if you are bored of the usual emojis, you need not worry. Social media giant Facebook unveiled an all new genre of emoticons - Soundmojis - a day before World Emoji Day.

Denoted by a loudspeaker icon on the panel where Emojis, GIFs and Stickers are featured on Messenger, when a user sends a Soundmoji, the sender and the recipient can both hear short sound clip along with the emoji.


To send a Soundmoji, users have to update the Messenger app on their phone. After that, tap on the smiley face, and then select the loudspeaker icon.

From the sound of clapping and drumroll to evil laughter, the new range of emojis currently have a number of audio clips attached to various emoticons.

According to the Facebook statement, some of the audio clips are from artists like Rebecca Black, and TV shows and movies like 'F9', 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine', and 'Bridgerton'. The tech company is planning to launch an elaborate library, which will be regularly updated with new sound effects and famous sound bites.

The California-based company, in its statement, said people send over 2.4 billion messages with emojis every day on Messenger.

Emojipedia is currently seeking votes to crown the much-awaited emoji for World Emoji Day on Saturday. Thirty-six emoji candidates are contesting for the title.