Emoji and emoticons

Avoid the use of emoticons and emoji in text-based communications and never embed them in images.

In short messages that will only be seen once, a widely understood emoticon such as the smiley face might be acceptable (for example, some support content or blog posts) if the context is casual.

Emoji often convey tones that may be inappropriate in certain contexts or cultures. They’re also difficult to localize and tend to diminish readability and comprehension.

If you need to refer to emoji, you should spell emoji the same in both the singular and plural noun forms.

If your content requires the use of an emoji that might have more than one meaning or might not make sense to people in other countries, it’s best to remove or substitute them. 

Even within the same culture, an emoji can send different signals depending on the person’s social background or the way the emoji is used in a product or service.

For more specific guidance on other types of emoji, please refer to Emoji Meanings(opens external page) or Emojipedia(opens external page). 

Thumbs up emoji

The thumbs up emoji can express approval and consent in North America and the UK, but in other parts of the world, it can suggest a hitch-hike request, direction, or even an insult. 

To avoid ambiguity, avoid this emoji whenever possible.

A notable exception is within forum posts in Community, where we use the thumbs up icon to give kudos. The addition of the word kudos associates the icon with a positive action, which minimizes the chances that people will misinterpret it.