Is Emoji a serious Facebook alternative or just another hyped app?

By Quinten Plummer, Tech Times | July 3, 1:11 PM

Offering a haven from spam and trolls, Emojli, an inbound messaging app, promises to serve as a platform on which users can only communicate through emojis.

Emojis, also known as smilies, can express a variety of emotions and ideas, each as refined as the tiny images that populate emoji libraries. The creators of Emojili, Matt Gray and Tom Scott, believe users can have regular, meaningful exchanges through the use of emojis  and the duo are assuring prospective users the app is no joke.

"We know what you're thinking. It's satire -- no one would actually make this thing," stated Emojli's teaser trailer. "It's not and we have. emojli launches very soon. reserve your username -- you username has to be an emoji."

While a release date for Emojli hasn't been etched in stone, Gray and Scott have been encouraging interested individuals to reserve usernames on the company website. Usernames are selected from emojis and attached to email addresses - keeping in the spirit of their platform's supposed spam-free nature, Emojli has promised not to send spam messages to the email accounts of individuals who sign up for the service.

So does Emojli have the staying power to chink away at the armor of the likes of Facebook and Twitter? The emoji-only premise may seem a novel idea, but apps such as the SnapChat and Whatsapp have developed a cult following among teens and have millions of dollars thrown at them by Facebook.

Due to the ambigous nature of emojis, Emojli could serve as a more intimate and whimsical platform close friends and family members use to stay in touch during those times when the phone calls start to spread apart. General acquaintances may struggle to interpret some of the chains of emojis, much more so than family members and close friends.

The jury hasn't even begun to deliberate on Emojli, as only the basic details of the app have been revealed. Only time will tell if Emojli will crash and burn or will develop a following of devotees and have Facebook court it as another service to join its stable of standalone apps.

So far, Emojli has been confirmed from iOS devices. But the company has stated its intent to release Emojli on other platforms.

Watch the teaser trailer for the Emojli app here.