Have you ever wondered what state you text like? Well, if we narrow the field to emoji usage, it's actually pretty easy to figure out: Mobile keyboard company SwiftKey just determined what emoji each state uses more than any other state. And the results? Some of them are surprising; some of them are less surprising; but no matter which way you look at it, it's all pretty fascinating. Plus, they arranged it all in a hand-dandy interactive map they call the United States of Emoji, and let's face it: That's just cool.
To create their map, SwiftKey analyzed a whopping one billion emoji from aggregate SwiftKey Cloud data, which the company describes as “an opt-in service offering backup and sync of your language insights.” SwiftKey periodically analyzes the data gathered by SwiftKey Cloud in order both to identify trends in emoji usage, as well as to make sure that its predictions are as accurate as they can be.
Something to note: The data does not reveal what the most popular emoji in each state is. It reveals the emoji each state uses more in comparison to every other state. That's why there are no repeats on the map — which, to be honest, I think makes everything much more interesting. I'm sure most states use emoji like the yellow smiley significantly more than they use, say, the Japanese ogre; but is there a state that uses the Japanese ogre more than anyone else? They're aren't, but if there were, it would tell us a lot more about that particular state's texting habits than the eight million yellow smileys they probably use on a day-to-day basis.
So, in no particular order, here are 10 of my personal favorite emoji picks by state; check out the full map and emoji report at SwiftKey's home on the web. What state do you text like?
1. Nevada: Eggplant
Is anyone surprised that Nevada, home of Las Vegas, aka Sin City, uses the eggplant emoji more than any other state? Nope. Not one bit. It also tends to use emoji like the open mouth, the pair of girls, and the key more than average.
2. California: Taxi
Interestingly, there actually isn't any one emoji that the state of California uses comparatively more than anywhere else; according to SwiftKey, it's because “its usage is so diverse.” It does, however, use some emoji more than average — among them the taxi, which makes sense when you consider the fact that both Uber and Lyft were founded in San Francisco. Emoji in the LGBT category are also on the higher end of the usage spectrum. (So where the heck is the rainbow pride flag emoji already, Unicode?)
3. Mississippi: 100
Apparently Mississippi is always keeping it 100. They're also big on prayer hands down there, but they use the cup of coffee and poop emoji less than average. I guess they don't have a lot of people down there who need to poop right after they drink coffee. Or… something.
4. Maine: Volcano
Fun fact: Not only did Maine have volcanoes once upon a time, but even better, it had supervolcanoes. According to LiveScience, a number of super-eruptions occurred along what's now known as the East Coast somewhere in the neighborhood of 420 million years ago; furthermore, at least four of the supervolcanoes from which those eruptions would have come were spread out along the coast of Maine. Consider that your TIL quota filled for the day — and give it a thumbs up or a balloon while you're at it, because Maine also digs those two emoji quite a bit.
5. New York: The Statue of Liberty
New York? I'm kind of disappointed in you. I suppose the fact that you use the Statue of Liberty emoji more than any other state is to be expected — since, y'know, it lives there and all — but still. It's kind of a boring result, don't you think? Oh well. At least the dancing women in the red dress and the party confetti are well-used there, too. Party on Liberty Island!
6. North Dakota: The Dress
North Dakota has one of the most hilarious overall combinations in the “emoji used more than in any other state” category: The dress, the red high heel, the rose, the boy and the girl kissing… and the camel. Specifically the bactrian camel. I was not aware that there were camels in North Dakota, but maybe we're talking about metaphorical camels here.
7. Oklahoma: Ghost
Oklahoma must be home to a lot of spooky stuff; the ghost and the smiling purple devil both like to hang out there. The blue heart, however, is used less than average. Hmmm…
8. Washington, D.C.: Snowman
Whether or not the snowman is Olaf remains to be seen. Our nation's capital is also fond of the Moai head, although not so much of the jack-o-lantern. I guess they're picky about their humanoid objects there.
9. Louisiana: Skull
Uh… Louisiana? Is there something you want to tell us?
10. Washington State: Headphones with Music
Hilariously, Washington also uses outer space emoji more than average. I wonder what sort of music they'd want to send up there?
See the full United States of Emoji map over at SwiftKey.
Images: Emojipedia (10)
