Boy petitions Apple to change 'nerd face' emoji
A UK schoolboy is asking Apple to fix and rename what he says is its offensive and insulting "nerd face" emoji, and has created a petition about it.
![Petitioner Teddy with the](https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/57507-117139-000-lead-Emoji-petitioner-xl.jpg)
Petitioner Teddy with the "Apple" icon he so dislikes (source: BBC)
Perhaps a 10-year-old schoolboy couldn't be expected to know that it's actually the Unicode consortium that rules on emoji -- but you'd hope that the teachers encouraging his petition would have looked into it.
According to BBC News, 10-year-old Teddy from Peppard in the UK's Oxfordshire, says that Apple's nerd icon with prominent front teeth gives a bad impression of glasses wearers.
"We want to change this -- Apple are making it absolutely horrible for people wearing glasses," he said. "They're making people think we're nerds and it's absolutely horrible."
"It's making me feel sad and upset," he continued, "and if I find it offensive there'll be thousands of people around the world that find it offensive too."
Teddy has designed his own version, which replaces the teeth with a little closed-mouth grin. "It's got thin lenses and thin frames... and then it's got a little smiley face instead of the horrible rabbit teeth," he said.
While it's the Unicode consortium that decides whether a given emoji will be officially adopted, it is then up to companies precisely how they illustrate it. Examples of at least most emoji design variations, including the one literally called "Nerd Face," are shown on the Emojipedia.
The majority have done the same as Apple with prominent teeth, but Facebook's is close to Teddy's own new design. That Facebook version with just a small grin is solely seen on Android and PCs, though, as a Mac or iPhone on Facebook uses Apple's version.
![Facebook switched from teeth to a grin for the nerd emoji in 2018, but only for Android and PC. (Source: Emojipedia)](https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/57507-117140-001-Facebook-xl.jpg)
Facebook switched from teeth to a grin for the nerd emoji in 2018, but only for Android and PC. (Source: Emojipedia)
The boy's petition has been encouraged by a teacher, named only as Lisa, who told the BBC that she loves "his inquisitive mind, and the fact he fights for what he believes in."
"He's quite vocal about it but in quite a grown-up way," she continued, "and I think that should be supported, encouraged and commended as well."
BBC News says that Apple has not commented.
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Comments
Apple can change it, and I think the kid makes a fair point.
Excuse me while I clean my glasses and dust my Star Wars toys...
Apple's version nails it as usual:
https://emojipedia.org/apple/ios-16.4/nerd-face
Other versions are more kind like WhatsApp:
https://emojipedia.org/whatsapp/2.23.2.72/nerd-face
but the point of the emoji is to represent the message clearly. When you see the image, you're supposed to immediately think that's a nerd. That's the whole point of emoji existing, there's no point in sharing ambiguous emoji so people wonder what it means and people have to explain it.
Smiling person with glasses - is it a happy father looking over his first born child? Is it someone shortsighted watching a football game where his team is about to score? This version cannot be used the way the nerd emoji is currently used.
Apple's version - that's a nerd, looking like a nerd, acting like a nerd. Clear, obvious, nailed it.
and, I can't believe I am wasting my breath commenting on this to be honest.