Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has launched new stickers like rainbows, hearts and some same-sex couple stickers that can be shared with the friends just like emojis. The new stickers have been unveiled for Facebook Messenger to celebrate Pride Month.
“We see this as one more way we can make Facebook a place where people can express their authentic identity,” Facebook said.
Facebook showing support to LGBT community
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has taken several steps to show its commitment to the LGBT community by supporting the LGBT@facebook affinity group and providing around 56 gender options on profiles to upload a “I Feel Pride” emoticon after the Supreme Court ruling striking down DOMA. A Facebook Diversity spokesperson said that the company is celebrating with free Facebook Messenger stickers.
They can be installed via the Facebook emoticon menu.
The White House has already declared that June will be LGBT Pride Month and there will be many Pride parades and parties across the country throughout this month. Just a few days back, transgender Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox was featured in the cover of Time Magazine. Illinois also became the latest state to authorize gay marriage on Sunday.
In June of last year, the upreme Court of the United States also ruled in favor of gay marriage and ruled part of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
Apple planned to make emojis more diverse
Separately, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has also revealed plans to include a host of new emojis in future releases. The company is working in collaboration with the Unicode Consortium on the project. No details have been provided regarding the release date. Earlier, Apple’s Vice president of worldwide corporate communications Katie Cotton said in her reply to blogger Joey Parker, that the emoji characters are developed using Unicode standards, which is required for the characters to be fully functional across various platforms.
Emojis were first developed in Japan and were then integrated with Unicode, which sold them across platforms. The series mainly features Caucasian icons, which Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is planning to change.
