Oxford's 2015 Word of the Year

With 2015 coming to an end, Oxford Dictionary released their decision of word of the year; the laughing face emoji. "“Although emoji have been a staple of texting teens for some time, emoji culture exploded into the global mainstream over the past year,” the company’s team wrote in a press release. “Emoji have come to embody a core aspect of living in a digital world that is visually driven, emotionally expressive, and obsessively immediate.”" (http://time.com/4114886/oxford-word-of-the-year-2015-emoji/) This is the first time in history Oxford has chosen a pictograph as their word of the year. While the 'laughing face emoji' came in first place, the 'kissing face emoji with heart' came as runner up. Their selection of choosing a emoji rather than a word shows the immense power emojis have on our current digital age society. This hallmark decision showcases how popular emojis have become; and are continuing to capture the attention of not only the general public but literary scholars as well.
The implications this has on the future of literature proves to be immense. Oxford Dictionary has always been a respected source, and with their decision to select an emoji for word of the year demonstrates the influence emojis has had on the world. Although it does raise some questions, as many people have been curious as to where Oxford will place the emoji within the dictionary itself. I myself was wondering this, and my best guess would be under a 'symbol' or 'emoji' category. Maybe over time the dictionary will develop a separate category solely dedicated to emojis. It's interesting to see how people react to this development, as I was discussing Oxford's choice for word of the year with a friend of mine she argued that since emoji is a pictograph and not a word, it should not be included in the dictionary. With the advancements in technology made in the 21st century, I think it's important for the dictionary to evolve to meet the digital demands created through various technology. If literature has evolved to include emoji within it's works, I think it's only fair to include emojis in the dictionary as well. Society is not stationary; it's static and ever changing. Meaning the dictionary should be as well.