With so much of our time spent online chatting with each other, emojis have become a very important part of our communication. While the traditional smiling and laughing emojis have been used over time, the ones that appear in the dating game can mean more than meets the eye.
As people celebrated World Emoji Day on July 17, dating app Tinder shared insights on how emojis are helping singles flirt, tease, connect and occasionally confuse each other completely, and if you think emojis are a thing from the past, think again.
According to global internal data from the app, around 20 per cent of first messages include at least one emoji.
In 2025, Gen Z and Millennials in India are turning to emojis in their bios to express themselves, show intent, and spark meaningful connections on every kind of dating app and social media platform.
To no one’s surprise, there are some popular emojis on the app in India in 2025, proving that emojis are still, somehow, the unofficial language of dating: flirty, funny, and just a little confusing.
While the top emojis in bios among Gen Z (18–25) in India are red heart, winking face and sparkles, it is a little different for those above 26 years, who also love the heart and winking face use smiling face with smiling eyes too.
When it comes to global emoji use in bios and messages in 2025, United States, Brazil, Germany, France, Spain and the UK are taking the lead.
While there are claims that Gen Z has “cancelled” emojis, the numbers tell a different story. Nearly a quarter of all the app`s users with emojis in their bios are aged 18 to 251, showing that while the tone may have changed (think: more ironic and layered and absolutely no thumbs up or smiling face unless you want to sound passive-aggressive), the emoji is far from extinct.
Not every emoji hits the same (and potentially leads to ghosting)
While the waving hand, smiling, laughing and heart appear most often in first messages exchanged on the app, setting the tone for something fun or flirty, other emojis might be sending things straight to ghost town.
Tinder data reveals that certain emojis are more likely to show up right before someone gets ghosted1, and here is why this might happen: Face with steam from the nose may come across as too intense too fast; The kissing face may indicate unclear intentions, is it a kiss? A whistle? A glitch?; sleeping face can indicated digital snooze button and that someone is bored; the persevering face suggests overwhelming, feelings were felt… too quickly; the pleading face can come across as overly emotionally attached.
The peach and eggplant emoji in a message cuts your chances of exchanging contact informaton almost in half, so unless you’re both aligned on your conversation type, it might be best to save the fruit and veg for your grocery list.
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