Custom Emoji Etiquette for Workplaces and Communities

Ask before using someone's face

Turning a colleague or friend into an emoji is one of the most popular things to do with a tool like Gifmoji, and most people love it. But it's their face, and it'll show up in conversations they're not part of, so ask first. A quick "can I make you into an emoji?" avoids surprises.

Pay attention to which effect you choose, too. A face that spins or parties is a celebration. The same face on :sign-mad: or :old-man-yells: can feel like a joke at that person's expense, especially in a work setting where they might not feel able to object.

If someone asks for an emoji of them to be removed, remove it. On most platforms, the person who added an emoji or an admin can delete it.

Logos, characters and other people's work

Company logos, cartoon characters and memes are common emoji subjects. Using them inside a private team chat is generally low-key, but it's still someone else's work. Be more careful in public communities, and especially with Twitch emotes: they're shown to everyone in your chat and linked to your channel, and Twitch reviews emotes and doesn't allow images you don't have the rights to use.

Your own photos, your pets, your own artwork and your organization's own branding are always safe choices.

Name emoji so people can find them

The name is how people find an emoji in the picker, so a clever name nobody can guess means an emoji nobody uses. A simple pattern works well: who or what, then the action or mood.

• :alex-party:, :alex-facepalm:, :alex-shrug: (one person, several moods)
• :biscuit-spin: for the office dog
• :ship-it-fire: for a launch reaction

Stick to lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens or underscores. Discord requires names of at least two characters made of letters, numbers and underscores, so if you share emoji across platforms, underscores are the safest separator.

Avoid names that collide with standard emoji. Naming your custom emoji :fire: or :thumbsup: causes confusion, or isn't allowed at all.

Be considerate with animation

Animated emoji draw the eye, which is the point in a casual channel and a distraction in an incident channel or a company-wide announcement. Use them where the mood fits.

Fast, flashing effects can also be uncomfortable or even harmful for some people. Our guide to animated emoji accessibility covers what to avoid and the settings people can use to pause animation.

Keep the emoji list tidy

Emoji lists grow quickly. A little curation keeps them useful:

• Clean up occasionally. Remove duplicates and emoji nobody has used in months. On Discord this matters even more, because servers have a limited number of animated emoji slots.
• Have a place for requests. A channel like #emoji-requests lets people suggest new ones and lets the team weigh in before something goes up.
• Explain the in-jokes. A short pinned message or wiki page listing the team's emoji and what they mean helps new members join in.
• Think about people who leave. When a colleague leaves the company, consider asking them whether they'd like emoji of their face removed.

Workplace rules still apply

An emoji is a message. If something wouldn't be appropriate to say or post in your workspace, it isn't appropriate as an emoji either. In Teams especially, custom emoji are shared across the whole organization, so assume your manager's manager will see it.