Emoji Power Rankings: The Top 25

Image via Complex Original

Last Week: 16

This dancer has been sashaying her way down the charts in recent weeks. Things aren't looking any brighter for the hoofer this time, as she continues her plummet down our power rankings. Though this emoji gets a significant boost from girls texting friends when they are excited about going to the club, stiff competition from other dancer emojis and the fact that she has no facial features or hands might send her dancing off the charts in short order.

Last Week: Unranked

The so-called "Cool Button" is appearing on our power rankings for the first time this week. This emoji has largely been ignored because it actually takes longer to seek out the icon than to simply type the word "cool" in a text message. Proponents of the emoji point to the sleek blue box and clean white font employed in the design. Experts, however, are incredulous: conventional wisdom tells us that these factors won't be enough to keep this emoji in the big leagues.

Last Week: 25

That'll do, pig. That'll do, indeed. Just when you thought this emoji was down and out, the oinker hangs on for yet another week. This versatile emoji can be used to make a message cuter, but can also indicate that someone has said something inappropraite. Complex Stats and Information informs us that this pig emoji was received a record forty-seven times this week by 23 year-old Frederick, MD native Jimmy Hanson from a variety of women who found his sexual advances inappropriate and repulsive.

Last Week: Unranked

The New Moon Smiling has shocked the nation this week; this emoji rarely shows up on this list in a week when the actual Moon isn't new. Though the real-life moon will be a Waxing Gibbous until the weekend, the New Moon Smiling has made it's way into our rankings and into our hearts. Many readers have reported that they didn't know this was supposed to be a new moon: an informal poll conducted by Complex Stats and Information revealed that most people think this emoji is "just a weird dark face."

Last Week: 24

As the most phallic image in the entire emoji library, the eggplant seems safe in our power rankings. Commonly used in sexts and dirty jokes, the eggplant's spot in our rankings fluctuates wildly from week to week, but it is hard to imagine a scenario in which this naughty emoji doesn't make the cut.

Last Week: 23

IMessage users have become enchanted with this strange emoji in recent weeks. We've all heard the expression "time flies when you're having fun," but we've never heard any aphorisms about cash with wings. When we look at our bar tabs the night after we depoist our paychecks, however, we begin to think that maybe there should be a couple.

Last Week: Unranked

We see a bright future ahead for this emoji, which power users are just beginning to discover. It seems that teens are starting to use this emoji in place of the phrase, "I don't know, I can't predict the future." There aren't many things in life that we can predict, but we feel confident in telling you that this emoji is here to stay. 

Last Week: 13

Anyone who has ever read any of the comments on this website knows that anger is one of the Internet's most powerful emotions. Next to horniness, anger actually drives more web traffic than any other feelings. This emoji would have a much higher ranking if not for the half-dozen other icons that are used to express anger in the emoji lexicon.

Last Week: 22

Buzzfeed lists and former T.G.I.F sitcoms streaming on Netflix have taught us that nostalgia is a very powerful thing. Yes, this is an emoji of a device rendered obsolete by the smartphone, but emoji usage is driven in part by nostalgia, just like everything else in the digital world.

Last Week: 21

When this emoji was just a man with a moustache, it wasn't exciting anybody. When users started to realize that this face could be used as shorthand for "creeper" or "potential child molester," this emoji became a staple of insult texts. Man with a Moustache is truly one of the great emoji Cinderella stories of recent months.

Last Week: 19

Though the syringe made a respectable showing this week, this emoji needs an event like a Lance Armstrong trial or Amy Winehouse's death to really shoot up the rankings. 

Last Week: Unranked

This enigmatic emoji came out of nowhere this week. Do people actually reference Easter Island in casual texting conversation? Is this wonder of the world meant to act as shorthand for some common phrase? Emoji experts and pundits alike are dumbfounded by this emoji, and that might be exactly why you're seeing it make its debut in the power rankings this week.

Last Week: 17

Defying all predictions, the Speak-No-Evil Monkey has appeared in our rankings without its companion emojis, the See-No-Evil Monkey and the Hear-No-Evil Monkey. If you think about it, it's easy to see why this little guy has attracted more attention than its siblings: people regret what they say more often than they regret what they hear or see.

Last Week: 8

This marks one of the few times that this emoji has fallen out of the top ten of our power rankings. It seems that revelers went so hard during a Halloween celebration that spanned two entire weekends that they still don't want to think about or text about drinking heavily.

Last Week: 9

When the party is poppin', you use the Party Popper to let your people know that the party is poppin'. It's plain to see that this perennial emoji pick has been promoted to a predominate perch in power polls thanks to people posting about their poppin' parties.

Last Week: 11

People love this smitten kitten. Our research indicates that people use this emoji when they are so overwhelmed with feelings of affection that a heart simply won't do the trick. This feline emoji is so full of love that it can't be contained. This has resonated with emoji users and has made the Love Cat an A-List emoji.

Last Week: 10

Smiley Face is the work horse emoji. There's nothing fancy about it. There are no tricks up its sleeve. This emoji is simply a tried and true symbol of happiness, and though the Smiley Face isn't sexy enough to claim our top spot, you can always count on seeing that smiling face high in our rankings.

Last Week: 5

Here's another emoji that you're going to see in the upper echelon of our rankings week in and week out. So many text messages are long-winded expressions of yes or no questions. Many emoji power users have learned that a thumbs up or thumbs down emoji can take care of about 95% of your text messaging workload, freeing your actual thumbs from the drugery of typing on a touch screen.

Last Week: 15

We expect a steady decline in the popularity of this emoji over the next several months as cuffing season leads directly into the Holidays, followed by the lead up to Valentine's Day. Expect a sharp increase in usage of this emoji right around St. Patrick's Day, which marks the beginning of what we in the emoji industry like to call "drinking season."

Last Week: 6

The widespread popularity of guns in American culture coupled with the steady stream of mass shootings that shows no signs of ceasing, we should be seeing this emoji in the top ten for the forseeable future.

Last Week: 7

The good people at iemoji.com have informed us that this emoji is supposed to be an "Information Desk Person." In popular discourse, however, this emoji has been used to indicate a "raise the roof" gesture, or give "ups" to a person, place, or thing. This emoji has become a symbol of optimism for many iPhone users. The Woman Raising the Roof sees a spike in popularity on Fridays when people employ the emoji in celebration of the arrival of the "freakin' weekend."

Last Week: 4

"And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A."

- Lee Greenwood

Last Week: 2

The Crazy Ghost has become the preferred symbol of those looking to get, or who already are, turnt up. There is a transcendent level of revelry that is beyond happiness, beyond drunkenness, that lands squarely in the realm of sheer sloppy euphoria. Emoji users understand that this is an occasion when the Crazy Ghost is the only way to express yourself.

Last Week: 3

Don't be surprised if you see this emoji plummet down the power rankings in short order. Research courtesy of Complex Stats and Information indicates that the Laughing Crying Face has almost reached a point of complete saturation. If someone finds something even remotely humorous, there is an 85% chance they will use this emoji as a form of punctuation. We see strong evidence that the Laughing Crying Face could be destined for the same fate as the Blowing A Kiss emoji, which hasn't appeared in these power rankings since the Spring of 2011.

Last Week: 1

For the seventy-fifth consecutive week, Smiling Poop comes in at number one. It's hard to find praise for this emoji that hasn't already been heaped upon it,  but we'll give it a shot. The Smiling Poop emoji is brilliant because it is built on a contradiction. Poop, due to its smell and status as excrement, is considered to be a bad thing. Smiling, an outward indicator of happniess, is largely considered a good thing. These conflicting meanings battle constantly for the soul of the Smiling Poop emoji, and we can't help but look on with a mixture of awe and wonder.