Is the red heart emoji MAGA? ❤️

Liberal TikTok users are abandoning the emoji over fear of its political implications. It's not the first time emojis have become political.

A few days ago newsletter writer

Casey Lewis

posted a TikTok asking, “Does anybody else feel like the red heart emoji has been totally ruined for them?” Normally, Lewis said that she punctuates her messages with a ❤️ . But since the election, she’s worried that the heart carries political implications.

“I feel like a red heart emoji implies MAGA,” she said, “and so I no longer know how to punctuate my sentences. I guess I’ll have to go back to using an exclamation mark…Because the red heart for me is dead, at least for a while.”

@caseymorrowlewisit’s giving MAGA

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The heart emoji has been a mainstay in our digital lexicon for decades. Initially added to the Unicode character set back in 1993, the red heart emoji in its current form was later included in the first set of emoji for iPhone in 2008. It remains the second-most popular emoji of all time behind the crying laughing emoji, according to Emojipedia, and is used ubiquitously in texts, tweets, and to express love, support, and solidarity.

But now, the ❤️ emoji has become associated with the political aesthetic of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, and many liberal internet users are abandoning it, saying that it has taken on a new meaning. 

Lewis’ TikTok post amassed over 117,000 views and thousands of comments. “I accidentally used [the red heart emoji] yesterday and QUICKLY had to clarify,” a user named Libby replied. “All week I haven’t used ❤️ for this reason 🤣,” a user named Jessica posted.

TikTokers commented that they are now using the heart emoji in other color options, especially the deep blue heart 💙, which many Democrats have been using on Kamala-related posts. “[The red heart emoji] gives me a deep ick now,” a user posted. “I refuse to use it anymore. I like the blue hearts or black hearts, but not together because that feels too ‘blue line’ adjacent.”

Emojis, once simple tools for enhancing online communication, have evolved into complex markers of identity, ideology, and cultural nuance. Since becoming popular in the early 2010s, emoji have evolved from basic text add-ons to nuanced symbols that carry social cues and, increasingly, political implications.

And, in recent years, as digital communication has become more meme-based and visual, the meaning of emojis has become more fluid and politicized.

“Things are becoming more politicized online,” said Jeremy Burge, the founder of Emojipedia, an emoji encyclopedia, and a former vice chair of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee. “Increased politicization makes people want to put their politics front and center, and emoji is something we all have on our phones. Why would you not use one to push your political beliefs?”

One of the earliest emojis to take on political meaning was the raised fist emoji ✊. Originally used to show unity and support for various causes, the symbol became an expression of solidarity and resistance during the early days of the Black Lives Matter movement in the early- to mid-2010s.

During Trump's first presidential run in 2016, The American flag emoji 🇺🇸 was adopted by Trump supporters to express their support for the nationalistic MAGA movement.

A few years later, in 2019, the peach emoji 🍑 — initially created to represent a fruit but famously transformed into a stand-in for a human butt – became an anti-Trump #resistance symbol and "protest emoji".

Around the same time, the OK hand gesture emoji 👌, once a benign sign of approval, was added to the Anti-Defamation League's hate symbol database after it was co-opted by extremist groups online.

Now, emoji provide political groups across the ideological spectrum with a visual shorthand to express their identities online. The rose emoji 🌹 is widely associated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Mainstream Democrat supporters often use the blue heart 💙 and blue wave emoji 🌊 to identify themselves, especially during this recent election season. Anarchist groups use the black flag 🏴 or skull and crossbones ☠️ to signify opposition to centralized power. Women’s rights advocates sometimes use the purple heart 💜 to advocate for gender equality and reproductive rights. Nationalist and far-right groups have adopted the eagle 🦅.

Meanwhile, emojis like the rainbow flag 🏳️‍🌈 and the hijab emoji 🧕, aimed at promoting inclusivity, have faced backlash from right wing groups. Activists have also been trying to make the Tibetan flag emoji happen for years now, to no avail. (The flag is banned in mainland China). 

Jennifer 8. Lee, a member of the Emoji Standard and Research Working Group at the Unicode Consortium, said she has seen first-hand how emojis shift in meaning over time. As a nonprofit focused on creating universal text encoding standards, Unicode maintains neutrality, aiming to make emojis adaptable across cultures rather than dictating what they should mean. “Emoji meanings shift much like words do over time,” Lee said.

A 2023 research study presented at the Conference on Computational Humanities Research found that a person's political leanings affect what emojis they choose to use regularly, even when those emoji don't have direct political meaning. For instance, they found that users on the left were more likely to use the ✌️and 🌱 emoji, while those on the right were likelier to employ the 💪 and 💯 emoji.

When the researchers ran a count to identify the single-word terms most frequently co-occurring with the 💯 emoji in users' Twitter bios, they found that the words “God,” “catholic,” “fatherland,” “patriot,” “power,” “honor,” and “babieslivesmatter,” were among those that appeared most often.

"We argue that unrecognized political emoji such as the 💯 play a role in political language," the study authors wrote. 

Lee said that Unicode has scaled back the addition of new emoji in recent years. “It’s really dialed down now,” she said, regarding Unicode’s emoji approval process. “We’re only adding six to ten new emojis a year, compared to 30 or 40 a few years ago. We’re thoughtful about what makes it onto the keyboard.” 

When it comes to hearts, though, Unicode has been generous, adding a slew of new colors over the years, beyond the traditional red. There are even hand-heart symbols now 🫶 for those looking for a less conventional way to spread the love.

Keith Broni, editor in chief Emojipedia, said that those having anxiety about using the red heart emoji in the wake of the U.S. election shouldn’t worry too much. “I would bet my livelihood that less than 1% of red heart emoji usage across social platforms [globally] is to reflect the MAGA movement,” he said.

Personally, I do not consider the red heart emoji MAGA. But, if you are on the hunt for a new emoji to express love and affection, I wrote an entire piece for The Atlantic years ago detailing why the pink wifi heart 💓 is the superior heart emoji.

While the classic red emoji heart communicates bland and generic love, the Wi-Fi heart stands for something deeper and more essential, and so far, it has yet to be politicized. 💓

What I’m reading

We Need Internet Culture Journalism More Than Ever

Getting mainstream legacy media newsrooms to care about internet culture journalism has proven to be a herculean feat. Will this election change that? - Passionfruit

Can Democrats Compete With the Rogan-verse?

As podcasters and YouTubers helped deliver the bro vote to Donald Trump, Democrats are facing criticism for not engaging enough with nontraditional media on the right—or elevating voices on the left. - Vanity Fair (I’m in this article!)

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