Why Is This Kid Trying To Change The 'Glasses Emoji'? The Nerd Emoji Controversy Explained

A 10-year old British boy by the name of Teddy recently went viral for his plea to Apple regarding one of the popular and commonly used Glasses emoji. As with all things online, this caused quite a stir, but don't worry, we'll break it all down for you.

What's His Problem?

Due to the 'Glasses' emoji having two teeth sticking out, which helped it become widely understood as the Nerd Emoji, Teddy argued that the emoji was disparaging towards people who had glasses, as it made people register all glasses wearers as nerds. This is why Teddy to reached out to Apple to try to get them to change the 'Glasses' emoji to something that he thinks would be a little friendlier while still getting the point across that the emoji is wearing glasses.

The Internet's Response

However, many online viewed Teddy as the living embodiment of the Nerd Emoji, and that his actions of trying to petition Apple to change the emoji made him a Karen who was only mad at it because he looked exactly like it. This led to many different social media posters to make jokes about how he's a nerd, or he's acting like a nerd would act when called out, with brands like Opera GX joining in and receiving over a million views in their Ratio of the kid.

What Happens Next?

It is unlikely that Apple will change the emoji, no matter how viral the story gets, as having Apple change the emoji wouldn't change people using the Nerd Emoji as they've always done. Apple, despite its large market share among children, is still approximately 21% of all smartphones in the world, meaning that other brands such as Samsung, Google, HTC, Razer if they still make phones, would still have the commonly used 'Glasses' with teeth emoji, as well as individual apps with their own emojis like Discord.

For the full history of the Apple Emoji Petition, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.