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Emojis are a great complement to digital written communication.
Companies use it to emotionally connect with users.
Emojis are one of the most popular means of digital expression in recent years, since their purpose is to express thoughts and emotions that complement, give strength or define the intention of a message. In marketing, companies use it to emotionally connect with users; however, like any communication tool, there are uses that could affect minors. In this sense, United States (EU) authorities warned that emojis are the new way in which traffickers establish contact with minors through social networks.
Now, marketing strategies are not only occupied by legal businesses, but also by those dedicated to drugs. In different forums and internet platforms, traffickers insert emojis with which they identify different types of substances to call for consumption and new markets.
In accordance with Digital 2021 Global Overview Report published by We are Social and Hootsuite, in Mexico there are more than 92.01 million people connected to the internet and more than 100 million active profiles on social networks and with the pandemic, interaction on internet platforms has increased, Mexicans spend 3 hours and 27 minutes on average on social networks.
When talking about users on social networks, it no longer refers only to adults, but to children and adolescents, who on many occasions, due to the composition of families, the availability of free time and other situations, allow minors to be in the digital universe without adult supervision.
According to the Federal Institute of Audiovisual Content Consumption 2016, the networks most used by minors in Mexico are Kik, Whatsapp, Telegramm, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and use the cell phone by 61 percent to browse and view content.
Given the constant use of social networks by minors, the United States authorities called on parents to be aware of what minors consume on the Internet.
Likewise, the newspaper The Dallas Morning News produced a guide to emojis that traffickers use to talk about drugs. This, based on information from the Anti-Drug Agency (DEA).
There are some popular emojis such as snow, snowman or flake that are used to talk about cocaine; broccoli, pines, palms, fourleaf clovers, and fire are used for marijuana; the train, the speed is related to amphetamines; sweets, hearts or rays are associated with ecstasy or MDMA; pills and banana refer to opioids and syringes, dragon, cup of coffee to heroin.
The misuse of social networks in a stage of “vulnerability” such as childhood or adolescence can lead minors to put themselves at risk. Although they are great communication tools, they open unsafe paths, which can lead to situations that are difficult to control without the intervention of other people.
La Mexican Internet Association Mx says that “50 percent of girls, boys and adolescents have their own device, be it a smartphone or a tablet”. Yet 47 percent of parents don’t use or know what parental controls are.