Emoji Lingo: A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

Whoever said, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” might be shocked to see the rapid evolution of emojis.

Baylor University found that 92% of people use emojis daily through texting, emailing, and social media.1

Another study determined that emojis tend to make people more likeable, while a stunning 63% believe that emojis help increase your credibility.2

As financial professionals, the regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies have put some limits on how we can use emojis in our communications, so don’t expect too many 😀 when you get a message from us. Regulators agree that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but they are concerned about how an emoji will be interpreted.

Nevertheless, because emojis are a powerful communication tool, we’re watching the trends to see what’s next in this new language frontier. Here’s the inside scoop for 2026.

The Taylor Swift Effect: The “TNT” or “dynamite” emoji is more popular than ever—and not because explosives are trending. Taylor Swift featured it in her engagement announcement to football player Travis Kelce to represent “Travis N Taylor.” Nevertheless, the editor-in-chief of Emojipedia (yes, there is a publication dedicated to emojis) expects the “TNT” trend to pass quickly.3

Nearing 4,000: In 1995, the initial set of emojis was 76 images. The first images included a skull, frowning face and peace sign formed by a hand. In 2026, 164 additional “pictograms” will be added to the emoji world, bringing the total to 3,954. The Unicode Consortium is pushing to add an orca, a yeti and an apple core this year, which has some people concerned that emoji makers are running out of ideas.4