Today is World Emoji Day: How to celebrate, facts, and new emojis coming soon

Do you know why it is celebrated every year July 17?

Emojis, like cell phone usage, is a part of daily life for Millennials, at the very least.

July 17 marks World Emoji Day, a worldwide celebration of all things having to do with emojis.

Why July 17?

The decision seemed pretty easy. The date "July 17" is displayed on the calendar emoji. Open up your phone and see for yourself.

New emojis coming soon

Apple unveiled Monday that 70 new emojis are on the way in an upcoming software update. Some of these new emojis include more hair options, an emoji for bald people, and new smiley faces.

Newly designed animal emojis are also coming, including the kangaroo, peacock, parrot and lobster. New food emojis for mangos, lettuce, cupcakes and other foods will also be made available.

Along with all that, more emojis for sports, symbols and more will be available when the new emojis are released later this year. When exactly will these new emojis be released? That is still to be determined.

Emoji statistics

According to WorldEmojiDay.com, here are some of the best statistics available on emojis:

  • People are using the red heart emoji twice as much as last year on Facebook.
  • The most used emoji on Twitter is the "Face with Tears of Joy" emoji. It was also the No. 1 emoji used on iOS.
  • By the middle of 2015, half of all comments on Instagram included an emoji.
  • More than 700 million emojis are used in Facebook posts every day.
  • New Year's Eve is the day the most emojis are sent on Facebook Messenger.

How to celebrate

By using emojis all day long, of course!

Besides that, here are a few ways WorldEmojiDay.com say you can celebrate:

  • Hold an emoji party by inviting friends and dress up as your favorite emoji, and maybe even bake an emoji cake
  • Keep it emoji-only: The website suggests you use emojis all day long to communicate. Text grandma with all emojis. Apologize over text with all emojis. Email from your boss? Maybe not best to email back with all emojis, but throw a few in there anyways!

What is your favorite emoji? You can have your voice heard by voting in the 2018 World Emoji Awards. Categories include Best New Emoji, Most Anticipated Emoji and Emoji of the Year. Voting closes at 2 p.m. and winners are announced at 3:20 p.m.

And make sure to use #WorldEmojiDay on all social media platforms.