THE SITE Emoji Tracker launched in 2013 to document the real-time usage of emoji icons on a massive spreadsheet. Every time an emoji was used on Twitter, its box on the sheet would light up, creating a fascinating vapor trail of public moods. Toward the top, the most popular expressions—crying with laughter, kissy face, heart eyes—flared up multiple times per second. Toward the bottom, the least popular icons (mostly outdated tech like floppy disks and pagers) lit up every couple of minutes. Missing from the list— and the most enigmatic of them all—was the icon of a floating small man in a business suit. What is it?
ILLUSTRATION BY QUICK HONEY
It’s one of the least popular emojis (1,233 of 1,679 on Twitter), perhaps because nobody knows what it is or how to use it. There aren’t many hints. Its description—“Man in Business Suit Levitating” (MIBSL)—isn’t particularly helpful, but the icon’s history is fittingly strange.