Emojis have become an increasingly popular way to express emotions and add visual flair to conversations on social media and messaging platforms. Facebook Messenger is one of the most widely used messaging apps, with over 1 billion monthly active users. One fun feature of Facebook Messenger is the ability to send animated emojis that move and express even more feeling. But not all emojis are animated in Messenger – only certain ones come to life when you send them. In this article, we’ll take a look at which emojis are animated in Facebook Messenger.
What are Animated Emojis?
Animated emojis are emojis that move or change appearance when sent in a messaging app. They go beyond static emojis by adding motion and personality. When you send an animated emoji in Facebook Messenger, it plays a short animation or loop when the recipient opens it in the chat.
For example, the smiling face with heart-eyes emoji blinks and shows a beating heart. The birthday cake emoji lights its candles. The unicorn emoji gallops across the screen. These little animations last 1-2 seconds and add some fun and flair to conversations.
Animated emojis first grew popular in Apple’s Messages app and have since been adopted by other messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger. They take basic emojis to the next level and can better communicate emotions through their movements.
How to Find Animated Emojis in Messenger
It’s easy to find and send animated emojis in a Messenger conversation:
1. Open a chat in the Messenger app.
2. Tap on the emoji icon to open up the emoji keyboard.
3. Scroll through the emoji sections until you see a purple star icon next to certain emojis. The purple star indicates that an emoji is animated.
4. Tap on any emoji with a purple star to send it animated in the chat.
The animated emojis will play their short animation immediately after sending. Some sections where you’re most likely to find animated options include:
– Smileys & Emotion
– Animals & Nature
– Food & Drink
– Activities
Not all emojis in these categories are animated, so look for the purple star when browsing.
Full List of Animated Emojis in Messenger
After scouring the Messenger emoji keyboard, here is the full list of emojis that are currently animated:
Smileys & Emotion
– Grinning Face with Smiling Eyes
– Face Blowing a Kiss
– Smiling Face with Hearts
– Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes
– Star-Struck
– Face Savoring Food
– Rolling on the Floor Laughing
– Drooling Face
– Cowboy Hat Face
– Partying Face
People & Body
– Person Raising Both Hands in Celebration
– Woman Dancing
– Man Dancing
Animals & Nature
– Dog Face
– Front-Facing Baby Chick
– Hatching Chick
– Chicken
– Unicorn Face
– Pig Nose
– Pig
– Frog Face
– Monkey Face
– Gorilla
– Fox Face
– Racoon
– Llama
– Giraffe Face
Food & Drink
– Honey Pot
– Cupcake
– Baguette Bread
– Pancakes
– Waffle
– Birthday Cake
– Shortcake
– Pie
– Champagne Bottle
– Clinking Glasses
– Tumbler Glass
Activities
– Person Cartwheeling
– Person in Lotus Position
– Person Bouncing Ball
– Person Playing Handball
– Person Juggling
– Person in Steam Room
Travel & Places
– Locomotive
– High-Speed Train
– Metro
– Station
– Tram
– Tram Car
– Oncoming Bus
– Oncoming Automobile
– Oncoming Police Car
– Oncoming Taxi
– Oncoming Police Car Light
– Oncoming Bus Light
Objects
– Heart Decoration
– Heart with Arrow
So in summary, about 60 emojis are currently animated in Facebook Messenger. The animated effects help bring the emojis to life with fun movements and animations that convey more emotion. Smileys make facial expressions, animals walk or dance, food emojis show delicious actions.
Over time, Facebook may add animations to more emojis or remove existing animated emojis. But for now, this list represents all the emojis that will animate when you send them in Messenger conversations. Look for the purple star icon to find them in the emoji keyboard.
Why Only Some Emojis are Animated
You may be wondering – why did Facebook only choose certain emojis to animate? Why aren’t all emojis animated?
There are a few likely reasons:
– Technical limitations: Animating emojis takes extra programming and data storage versus static emojis. Facebook may have technical limits on how many animated emojis it can support at once.
– Selective use creates more impact: If all emojis were animated, the animations might become less special. Reserving them for certain emotional emojis makes the animations more fun and memorable.
– Room for future growth: Facebook likely wants room to keep adding new animated emojis over time to keep the feature fresh. Starting with a limited set gives space to expand.
– Focus on emojis that benefit most from animation: Emojis like faces, animals, food, and activities tend to gain more expressiveness from animations compared to static objects.
So in summary, technical, strategic, and design considerations likely factor into which emojis Facebook animates in Messenger. The company seems to have focused on animating popular expressive emojis for now. But we may see more get the animated treatment over time.
Other Fun Animated Content in Messenger
Beyond animated emojis, there are a few other fun animated effects you can send in Messenger conversations:
– Selfie stickers: Add animated stickers like sunglasses or hats to your selfies.
– AR effects: Choose from fun augmented reality filters and effects to animate your selfies and videos.
– Reactions: Send animated reactions like pulsing hearts or laughing faces that float across the screen.
– Chat themes: Use colorful animated chat themes featuring things like dancing unicorns or swirls of stars.
So in addition to emojis, Messenger gives you lots of options to add some fun animations and effects as you message friends or groups. It helps conversations feel more dynamic, emotional, and lively compared to standard text.
Next time you chat in Messenger, explore the animated emojis and effects. But look for the purple star icon to find which emojis will come to life when you send them in a message.
Conclusion
Animated emojis are a fun way to express emotion and add some flair to conversations in Facebook Messenger. They take standard emojis to the next level by adding motion and personality when sent. After searching Messenger’s emoji keyboard, I’ve compiled a comprehensive list of all the emojis that are currently animated.
Key takeaways:
– About 60 Messenger emojis are animated, indicated by the purple star icon.
– Animated emojis are focused on expressive smileys, animals, food, activities and transport.
– Technical and strategic factors likely influence which emojis get animated.
– Messenger also offers other animated effects like selfie stickers, AR filters and chat themes.
So next time you want to liven up a Messenger chat, browse the emoji keyboard for the purple stars and try sending one of the fun animated options. Just don’t overuse them – sprinkled in moderation, they have the most impact!