Apple Supports Anti-Bullying Campaign With New iOS 9.1 Emoji Symbol

[MacRumors]

In betas of iOS 9.1 and OS X 10.11.1, Apple added a mysterious emoji symbol consisting of an eye inside of a speech bubble. At the time, it was not clear what purpose the mystery emoji served, but as Wired points out, it's Apple's way of supporting an anti-bullying campaign launched today by the Ad Council.

The "I Am A Witness" digital anti-bullying campaign aims to empower teenagers to speak up whenever they see bullying, with the emoji Apple implemented serving as a way to show support for someone who is being bullied.

Two designers at ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Angie Elko and Patrick Knowlton, came up with the eye-in-a-speech bubble symbol, and then the ad agency approached Apple to add it as an emoji to the Apple Keyboard. According to Goodby art director Hanna Wittmark, Apple was a fan of the symbol.

"When we first asked about bringing this emoji to the official Apple keyboard, they told us it would take at least a year or two to get it through and approved under Unicode," says Wittmark. The company found a way to fast-track it, she says, by combining two existing emoji.

To create the new anti-bullying emoji, Apple combined the eye emoji with the left speech bubble emoji using what's called a Zero Width Joiner, described on Emojipedia as a unicode character that's able to join two or more characters together. It's also used in emoji like the family, combining Man, Woman, Girl, and Boy emoji to create a single character emoji.

Image via Jeremy Burge of Emojipedia​

The emoji is a key symbol in the campaign and is available on iPhones running iOS 9.1 and Macs running OS X 10.11.1. The dedicated "I Am A Witness" website asks teens to use the emoji or a specially created "I Am A Witness third-party keyboard to call out bullying.

In addition to Apple, several other tech companies are also supporting the new campaign, including Adobe, Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Twitter, with each of these providing customized content on their respective platforms.

Article Link: Apple Supports Anti-Bullying Campaign With New iOS 9.1 Emoji Symbol

 

[sniffies]

How cute to depict the bullied as Cyclops.

 

[WarHeadz]

If this somehow ends up in PRSI there's no hope left for the world. Can't wait for someone to try and spin this negatively.

 

[jdillings]

Can't innovate anymore, my ass

 

[treborn]

A perfect emoji to respond to the 9.1 middle finger emoji. well played. dapple.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Got it... No bullying cyclops, people.

 

[elmateo487]

Can't innovate anymore, my ass

Are you somehow mocking Apple for attempting to help smash cyber-bullying?

 

[dannyyankou]

And promoting bullying in the process

 

[WarHeadz]

And promoting bullying in the process

View attachment 594825

That doesn't promote bullying. Where I come from the middle finger is akin to a handshake.

 

[dannyyankou]

That doesn't promote bullying. Where I come from the middle finger is akin to a handshake.

I know, I was kidding.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Colour me blind, but isn't this an Illuminati symbol?

Otherwise, I struggle to see how creating an anti-bullying emoji helps anti-bullying, any more than a snowflake emoji encourages it to snow.

 

[DUCKofD3ATH]

Are you somehow mocking Apple for attempting to help smash cyber-bullying?

You're awesome!

 

[maflynn]

I can't help but wonder how an emoji will stop bullying. Will the person who enjoys tormenting people suddenly stop because he sees this emoji

 

[Lostanddamned]

Well, I know I’d be put off being mean to someone if they sent me this ‍.

I mean what could be more off-putting to bullying than a unicode character?

This is a little bit silly.

 

[thewap]

kind of creepy in an illuminati way..

 

[macfoxpro]

Just think of how many will use that "claiming" "bullying" is happening.
So many people use the "bullying" word unnecessarily. It's such a umbrella word.
Everyone needs coddled, held and their ego stroked these days. Lord forbid any criticism come their way...."BULLY!!!"

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

How cute to depict the bullied as Cyclops.

Two of them together is a Bicyclops.

Wait... that might be something else.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

Well as someone who was bullied almost all of his school life, I'd say it's a welcome sight to see my favourite company supporting anti-bullying campaign.

 

[Kynmore]

Looks like giving someone a QQ...

 

[Rogifan]

So is this for all bullying or only the kind of bullying that bothers Apple/Silicon Valley?

 

[XMZ-250]

When VoiceOver is enabled it will say "Eye in a speech bubble representing the anti-bullying campaign"

 

[koobcamuk]

Looks like a black eye to me. LOL

 

[teknikal90]

illuminati confirmed.

 

[nutmac]

Well as someone who was bullied almost all of my school life, I'd say it's a welcome sight to see my favourite company supporting anti-bullying campaign.

You are awes‍

me. Stay c‍‍

l!

 

[H2SO4]

That doesn't promote bullying. Where I come from the middle finger is akin to a handshake.

Where Apple come from it doesn’t. Which angle do you really think they were coming from?

As much as it’s a serious issue I can’t help but think corporations should stay out of this kind of stuff. GTAdvanced could have gotten great mileage out of this though.