The Emoji: a face or icon you can add to a message to make it more personal — but why do so many people consistently use these?

According to Business2community, the average person sends 96 Emojis a day, which add up to over 6 billion sent around the world every day. These seemingly silly emoticons have had a huge influence over how we communicate via text over the past few years, with companies like Apple constantly pushing out more and more of these silly faces, objects, plants, animals, etc., to allow people to express almost every emotion or activity they want.

Over the past few years, Emojis have crept their way into mainstream digital communication just like acronyms such as “LOL” and “OMG.”

While some may view the Emoji as just another item in our linguistic toolbox, Emojis have truly revolutionized the way that we text.

There’s only so much emotion you can convey with solely text, which is why the Emoji holds such a high amount of power. It visually conveys ideas and emotions which could otherwise be misinterpreted over text.

Emojis are becoming so powerful that they are starting to spark controversy. An example of this is when Apple recently released the middle finger Emoji. While some were overjoyed to have this feisty emoticon in their arsenal, many parents across the country were enraged.

Tapping your phone screen just a few times can now send out a symbol that has long been seen as obscene across the U.S..

While this Emoji is still new, many are fearing that the obscenity of the middle finger will soon start to fade and children will be desensitized and think that it’s okay.

Another of the more prominent controversies surrounding Emojis was the effort to make them more racially diverse. As a result, Apple re-addressed the majority of human Emoji’s and gave them all five different skin tone options. While many had a positive response to this, according to The Washington Post, others felt that they were now segregated even further and felt obligated to racially identify themselves.

Emojis are a great way to make a point and express your emotions effectively behind your phone or computer screen, but have to be respected and used wisely/appropriately.

Next time you’re texting a friend and spamming it up with silly emoticons, stop for a second and consider the true power of the Emoji.