Tech giant Apple has announced it will be releasing new racially diverse emojis for the next version of IOS and OS X. The beta testers got a sneak peek at the new emojis and shared the images with the public online. The new emojis give Apple users more options in emojis of people, products and flags.The emoji update will allow users to have at least six choices of different skin tones when choosing an emoji character from the people section. The update will also have different skin tones for the emojis of hand gestures.Having more options of this sort is not necessary, according to Zoe Safeer, a junior majoring in elementary education from Utah. She said, “I think the generic ones right now are fine. There isn’t really a need to be so socially correct. I feel like the ones right now are light and fluffy and the new ones are too serious and heavy.”Crosby Curry, a junior majoring in psychology from California, disagrees with Safeer. Curry said, “I use emojis every day. I like to use different ones for different purposes. I like to tell stories through the use of emojis. I don’t think this increases racial prejudice in anyway; it allows people to be more specific. I think the more options, the better.”The update will offer a variety of different family types, including same-sex couples. There will be more variety of flags as well as an updated version of the current apple products in the object and symbol section. The iPhone emoji will be changed to an iPhone 6. The Apple Watch will also make its first appearance as an emoji with the update. The update of IOS and OS X for Apple products is expected to be released towards the end of this year. The update will also give the users more selections to choose from when using the people, product, travel and places sections of the emoji. Uploaded March 5, 2015
Writer: Alyssa Troyanek
