Emojis, or emoticons, are picture-like characters which many people find necessary in their social networking communications. They allow people to liven up their texts with hundreds of colourful images. But do you often feel that there are still not enough emojis to express (表达) yourself very well?

    Laura Ustick, manager of a fast-food restaurant in Illinois, US, said, "There are emojis for ice cream, pizza and sushi, but not for the all-American hot dog." That's why he and other emoji fans are taking action to get more emojis.

    "When we want to write something cute, it's just not there," Ustick told The Wall Street Journal. Other emoji fans are trying to get symbols like cupcakes and bacon, according to the newspaper. The BBC also reported on a petition (请愿书) posted on DoSomething.org calling on Apple to increase the diversity (多样性) within its keyboard. However, not everyone can design (设计) an emoji symbol. Emojis are largely controlled by the Unicode Consortium. It was founded by some computer programmers in the 1980s.

    In response (答复) to the DoSometing.org petition, an Apple spokesperson last month said, "We have been working closely with the Unicode Consortium. We are trying to meet the needs of emoji fans."