The uncertainty led to a facepalm free-for-all in the comments section of one post.
Netizens who love the facepalm are wondering what impact the trademark registration will have on the use of the emoji.
(Supposedly, the team of three or four designers spent five months working on the emoji).
The widely-used emoji, rumored to be based on the famous Hong Kong movie star Stephen Chow, was completed by a team of designers working for Tencent.
The application is currently on a three-month public feedback period (August 14 – November 13), where any party can voice relevant concerns. The trademark falls into Category 25, which is used for clothing, footwear and headgear. The number of people using WeChat to buy food or pay the bill at a restaurant each month has more than doubled since the previous year.The screenshot below has recently been circulating on the Internet and shows what appears to be an official notice from China’s Trademark Office seeking approval to trademark a popular WeChat emoji – ‘the facepalm.’Īccording to the screenshot, Jin Zhaoping applied for commercial use of the hysterical emoji. WeChat concluded the report with findings on how more and more people are using WeChat to pay for things such as transportation, shopping and food. The study also notes that this decade of individuals goes to sleep around 11.30pm each night. In the report, users born in the ’70s are called out for their obsession with checking their friend circle, WeChat’s primary newsfeed. Meanwhile, ’80s users are applauded for their fervent interest in reading and working. It could simply be that ’90s users are dreading their public transportation commute, which they take 25 times each month. The study also notes that beverage and sweet purchases by ’00s users increased by 230 percent compared to last year.Īs for ’90s users, the report referred to this group as ‘late birds’ for their tendency to wake up late. Users born in the ’00s have proven to be especially active on WeChat after 10pm, with the report noting that this age group gets the least amount of sleep. Everyday 45 billion messages are sent on the social media platform, while 410 million video or voice calls are made every 24 hours.Įlsewhere, WeChat uncovered some interesting trends about each age group (perks of having over 1 billion active users). The study included both macro and micro findings, which speaks to the amount of data they’ve collected over the years…Īccording to WeChat, over one billion people use the app every month, which includes 63 million people over 55 years old. Image via emojipedia 1980s – Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes Image via 1990s – Face With Tears of Joy See below to find which emoji best defines your age group! 2000s – Facepalm In a comical turn, the tech company used their sea of data to determine which emoji each age group uses the most. WeChat also used this decade-oriented data to track trends from previous years and highlight some significant changes. The company also divided users into age groups, categorizing them by decade of birth.
The data, which was compiled from January to September, 2018, focuses on multiple facets of users’ lives, including sleeping patterns, commuting, eating, reading and more. Along with the report, users could also learn how many days they’ve been using the social app, with some users sharing their WeChat lifetime on both WeChat and Weibo. On January 9, WeChat released their 2018 statistics report, which provided an inside look into how significant a role WeChat plays in our daily lives.