And one of the emojis that Gen Xs and boomers seem to love above all is the winking face. There are few messages my parents do not seek to enliven with the winking emoji. Others of a certain age ...

But don’t let this emoji fool you; it can also be used to show those same feelings for a hot outfit, a cute puppy or a delicious-looking lunch. Winking, kissing face with a heart.

“We wanted to create something cute,” Haile says. At the time, this winking attitude made sense. It was 2013, and emoji weren’t the loaded graphics they are today. It would be another year ...