It might not be copyrightable, but I think it would be strange if they looked similar in both platforms, in as much as strange denotes “unlikely correspondence between design elements not under user control”. (In Facebook’s avatars, I think the specifics of how those color/style choices are represented are also “strangely” similar, but that is harder to argue)
Throwing an Apple memoji into the mix makes it all more obvious – you can’t get within a mile of the bitmoji no matter how hard you try, because the creative vocabulary provided by the design choices and technology is so different.
I don’t agree that’s always the case. They can also clarify in some cases in online communications, when we don’t have other signals that many of us are used to in spoken communication. A sarcastic, angry, or sad comment can be reinforced by some kind of gif or emoji. They can also be used to highlight good points from other’s comments. Can they also obfuscate? Sure, but so can the written language itself.
So, no. I don’t agree with you on that, given that any form of communication can be both revealing or misleading. Again the core problem remains that we have thoughts/ideas/images inside our heads that we want to get out, and we only have highly imperfect means of doing so, whether in face to face communication, written communication of any kind, etc. And that doesn’t even get to the problem of people purposefully seeking to distort meaning in their communication.
But assuming that how YOU (or me or anyone here, not trying to call you out, just making a broader point here) prefers to communicate is superior to how others prefer it is always problematic. And in some cases, the problem isn’t with the person expressing something, it’s with the individual listening/reading, who refuses to ask for clarification or just jumps to conclusion (which we all do from time to time).
Bottom line - ALL forms of communication are inherently flawed and the fact that communication is coming from us only exacerbates that.
