Deciding which thumbs up emoji to add to a post may sound trivial, but for many people the dilemma carries with it larger questions about racial identity, awareness, and even politics. Using an emoji demands that people make their race explicit – and with that comes difficult choices. For a person who identifies as Black but is seen by others as white, which emoji should be used? What does it mean when a white person uses the bright yellow emoji versus a more realistic light-skinned color? Listen to hear emoji-users and a social media researcher discuss the racial politics of emojis and then debate: Are emoji skin tones useful?
Story Length: 5:19
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