Applications
Yahoo Messenger conducts survey to mark 25th anniversary of emoticons
MUMBAI:Yahoo Messenger is celebrating the 25th anniversary of emoticons, the popular feature on the messenger service. As part of the emoticon celebration, Yahoo conducted a 83 percent of respondents said that ‘happiness‘ and ‘flirting‘ are the emotions they express most often using emoticons. The survey also reveals that 66 per cent of Yahoo! Messenger users have memorized the text characters for three or more emoticons whereas 19 per cent of respondents have memorized more than 10. The majority of survey respondents say they best express themselves in IM using emoticons. 61 per cent rely on emoticons to best express their feelings, while 17 per cent rely on Internet slang and 13 per cent rely on photo sharing. Respondents from the ages of 19 to 25 are the most avid emoticon users, with 68 per cent in this age group using emoticons on a daily basis. But it‘s not just the younger generation embracing emoticons – 48 per cent of respondents over the age of 50 are using emoticons in their everyday communication. Professor Scott Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University was the first person to bring in to use his form of non verbal communication, states an official release. “For 25 years, the ‘smiley‘ 🙂 and his happy parenthetical-powered friends have added a critical layer of expression to our daily online conversations. When you can‘t hear someone‘s voice or see their face, emoticons are there to help us express what simple words can‘t,” said Yahoo! Messenger VP Jeff Bonforte. “Nearly 85 per cent of people using Yahoo! Messenger daily rely on emoticons to add color and character to their communication. Our users are the experts and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the emoticon, we are asking Yahoo! Messenger users to create the next generation of smiley faces” added Bonforte. Yahoo! Messenger will add six new animated emoticons to its service in the coming months. To enter Yahoo! Messenger‘s Emoticontest, go to:http://messenger.yahoo.com /emoticontest.php and submit a photo of a signature look or favorite expression. The Bix online community will vote on the submissions and determine the next generation of emoticons in Yahoo! Messenger. The contest is running in the U.S., India and Vietnam until 31 July.
survey of 40,000 Yahoo! Messenger users, to reveal where and how emoticons play a role in everyday communication. The major findings of the survey say that 82 percent of those who use Yahoo! Messenger daily use emoticons in their IM conversations.
As a part of this celebration Yahoo is also running a contest wherein the consumers are invited to submit their favourite expressions to compete for the next set of emoticons. The winners‘ emoticons will be featured on Yahoo! Messenger‘s service worldwide.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
