Ever get tired of seeing a boring website URL that uses only letters and numbers? Have you ever spent time wishing you could add some pizzazz to that boring link?
Apparently, plenty of internet users these days know that the struggle is real, and one creative website has done something about it.
Enter Linkmoji, a website that converts a URL into a combination of emojis so that internet users don’t have to stare at boring website addresses anymore. It’s as simple as entering the URL into a form on the page, clicking enter, and then seeing your new URL written entirely in emojis. And when you enter that emoji combination into your address bar, it will actually take you directly to the website you first entered into Linkmoji.
If you aren’t pleased with the icons you see, Linkmoji even gives you the option to recalculate the URL (although Business Insider reassured readers not to look too far into the emojis used for a URL, since it’s completely random).
The only real catch is that internet users must be using a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, that has the emoji language loaded into its system (otherwise the URL appears as empty boxes) — but considering that more than 50% of all mobile phone users consider their smartphone to be their primary took for accessing the internet, this might not be such a hassle.
Linkmoji was designed by George Kedenberg III and Eric Nakagawa, Huffington Post and iDigitalTimes report; Kedenberg used to be a Facebook designer, and Nakagawa is a startup entrepreneur.
It’s possible to create a URL using emojis thanks to one single domain that allows special characters in links: the Western Samoa domain (.ws). By converting a traditional domain that uses “.org” or “.com” into a domain that uses “.ws,” it’s possible to give each website a unique combination of emojis to represent the website’s actual location.
Linkmoji was intended as a fun project — and it’s certainly entertaining — but as iDigitalTimes notes, incorporating these modern hieroglyphics into the way we communicate and store information may actually serve a larger purpose. Child therapists have begun using certain emojis to help young victims of abuse explain what is happening at home, and a British security firm is reportedly considering adopting a security system that uses emojis in lieu of passwords.