*By Alisha Haridasani*
Apparently the texting world was very contemplative this year.
According to an online survey, the ‘Thinking Face’ emoji best describes 2018ーmaking it the winner of the Best Emoji of the Year in Emojipedia’s annual awards honoring World Emoji Day.
The other honoree was the ‘Exploding Head,' which won for Best New Emoji.
“These are put out to a popular vote, we put it out to the whole World Emoji Day network,” said Jeremy Burge, Chief Emoji Officer at Emojipedia. “This is the will of the people."
Voting was open for two weeks and closed on Tuesday.
Apple also marked World Emoji Day by revealing that dozens of new emojis will be added to iOS 12 later this year.
Redheads, bald people, and people with graying hair are among Apple’s newcomersーpart of the company’s latest attempts to increase diversity and inclusion among its slate of emojis, said Burge.
A peacock, a caped superhero, a cupcake, and the surprisingly popular mango were also added to iOS 12.
“There are so many mango fans out there,” explained Burge. “Mango’s popular, trust me.”
Apple integrated emojis onto its platform in 2012, catalyzing significant growth in usage, said Burge. In the years since, emojis have rapidly become universal symbols for laughter, love, anger...and whatever the folded hands mean.
There are currently almost 3,000 emojis approved by encoding organization Unicode, and most of them ー around 2,300 ー are used daily. According to data released by Facebook last week, over 900 million emoji-only messages are sent over the Messenger app every day. Emojis even shape our email habits: analytics company Leanplum reports emails with emojis are opened 66 percent more often than emails without the symbols.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/winners-of-2018-emoji-awards-revealed)
Spotify has announced its official Songs of the Summer predictions. Lea Palmieri, a Spotify trend expert and podcast host, joined Cheddar News to break down the acts who made the cut and how. “It's a mix of streaming data charts and also our global curation team," she said. "They're keeping an eye on all of the hottest music." While Harry Styles has recently topped the Spotify charts, Palmieri also addressed the "Feral Girl Summer" trend, which she described as going "moderately wild, having fun, enjoying yourself."
Catching you up on today's top entertainment stories with a recap from the 75th Annual Tony Awards, including red carpet interviews and Jennifer Hudson receiving her EGOT, and "Jurassic World: Dominion" topping the box office.
The Tony Awards made its sensational return to Radio City Music Hal for the first time since 2019. 'A Strange Loop' stole the show, winning Best Musical while Adrianna Debose hosted in the most spectacular way possible. Cheddar News was joined by Broadway Reporter Leigh Scheps to break down the 75th Annual Tony Awards.
U.S. stocks closed Thursday at their lowest levels of the trading day, as investors continue to eye inflation ahead of the May CPI report out Friday. Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist for National Holdings, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
U.S. stocks closed Friday at session lows after May CPI data showed inflation in the U.S. has not peaked and is still rising rapidly. For the week, the S&P fell 5.06%, the Dow lost 4.58%, and the Nasdaq dropped 5.60%, marking the worst week since January for all three major indexes. Mike Zigmont, Head of Trading and Research at Harvest Volatility Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Benefits brokerage, Nava Benefits, raised $40 million in a Series B round. Nava says it's on a mission to fix healthcare, one benefits plan at a time. The startup is working to bring benefits to small business that are normally available to only Fortune 500 companies. Brandon Weber, Co-Founder and CEO of Nava Benefits, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Auction house Christie's will be presenting "Legacy of the GOAT," which will include a rare Michael Jordan signed rookie card and sneakers. Caitlin Donovan, the vice president of Christie's handbags and accessories department. joined Cheddar News to discuss the special memorabilia selection for the NBA great. "He's been a global phenomenon, so he's really shaped '90s culture and streetwear culture," she said. "And we see bidders from every pocket in the world."
Kona Brewing Co., pro surfer Anna Gudauskus, and surf photographer Sarah Lee are embarking on an 1,500+ mile beach cleanup down the East Coast. Gudauskus and Lee join Cheddar News to discuss the initiative.
March For Our Lives will be returning this weekend to Washington, DC, in the wake of the recent mass shooting seen throughout the country. Marchers include Yolanda Renee King, the only granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. She joined Cheddar News to discuss the importance of the march and activism in general. "I just think that it's so important to have these rallies because we need to demand to our leaders and politicians that they pass legislation and that and we actually need to see action," she said.
