The inclusive emojis added to iOS receive varied opinions by people at Ohio University.
For the first time, many iPhone users at Ohio University are seeing emojis that better reflect their ethnicities.
Apple recently released new emojis that are more inclusive as part of its iOS 8.3 update. According to Forbes, 300 new emojis were added to the list of options for iOS users.
This included the option to choose between six different skin tones for emojis depicting people.
“I personally love it … but I think it’s too soon to measure their effectiveness,” said Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, the associate director of the Multicultural Center.
She also said there was not a large push on Apple’s part for users to update their phones and start using the new emojis.
“I like having the multicultural emojis because I am multicultural, but I want to wait and see how it plays out (before making a judgment on them),” she said.
She said her impression from other people in the multicultural community is that many want to see their own cultures represented.
“It may be something simple, but it’s a push for representation,” she said of the emojis.
The update also included the addition of 32 more flags from various countries around the world, bringing the total of emoji flags to 42.
She said that many feel emotional attachments to the flags of their respective countries because they are cultural symbols, but that the emojis won’t make a big change in society at large.
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“I think it’s going to take much more than emojis to change people’s minds,” Chunnu-Brayda said. “It’s going to take more to get beyond these centuries of racism, oppression and discrimination.”
Racially diverse emojis were not the only new ones added; there are now same-sex relationship family emojis. Previously, there were only same-sex couple emojis on the iPhone and different-sex families.
Some aren’t completely supportive of the motives behind the update.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction but there are other issues people could be focused on in the queer community,” said Oliver Stone, a sophomore studying psychology and English. “It’s more so just putting something out there for publicity’s sake.”
Stone said he would have preferred an official statement from Apple accompanying the update that was in support of the LGBT community.
Chris Bush, a freshman studying psychology, said he agreed with Stone’s idea about the statement.
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Bush said the news surrounding the update is misplaced.
“I think it’s cool, but it shouldn’t be focused on too much,” he said. “You’re still selling a product that costs a lot of money.”
He said that Apple actually doing something that brings change would be more beneficial to society.
“It would be more useful to everyone if they put some muscle behind the sentiment,” Bush said.
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