Jeremy Burge
Founder of Emojipedia (born 1984)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeremy Burge (born 14 July 1984)[1] is an Australian writer, entrepreneur[2] and internet personality.[3] He is the founder of Emojipedia[4] and Express Transit[5].
Jeremy Burge | |
|---|---|
Jeremy Burge at SOAS, University of London, June 2018 | |
| Born | 14 July 1984 Australia |
| Occupations | Entrepreneur, blogger |
| Known for | Founder of Emojipedia |
Business Insider listed Burge in the UK Tech 100 in 2016,[6] 2017[7] and 2018.[8]
Emojipedia
Burge created Emojipedia,[9] started World Emoji Day,[10] and is widely regarded as an expert on emoji.[11][12][13] The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Emojipedia had 23 million page views per month in 2017.[14]
Burge was Chief Emoji Officer at Emojipedia[15] between 2016 and 2022,[16][17] overseeing all editorial content.[18] This title was described by The Telegraph in 2019 as "one of the most absurd job titles in tech".[19] Business Insider referred to him as "The Emoji Maestro"[20] while other publications have used terms such as "Emoji King"[21][22] or "Lord of Emojis".[23][24] The New Yorker dubbed Burge "The Samuel Johnson of Emoji" in 2020.[25]
During his time at Emojipedia, Burge worked with professional athletes Tony Hawk and Sasha DiGiulian to improve the accuracy of Emojipedia's sample images for the skateboard[26][27][28] and rock climber[29] respectively. Jenken Magazine reported: "While they were on the phone one day, Hawk sent Burge a picture of his own board"[30] which was used as the basis of Emojipedia's revised skateboard design.[31]
In 2021, Emojipedia served over 500 million annual page views. Emojipedia was acquired by Zedge in August 2021 for an undisclosed amount.[32]
Unicode
Burge was vice-chair of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee from 2017 to 2019[33] and served on the Unicode Technical Committee[34] from 2015 to 2021.
Speaking to Crikey in 2022, Burge spoke against superfluous emoji additions: "representation is important but I'm not sure we need another abacus or lab coat emoji".[35]
World Emoji Day
World Emoji Day is a "global celebration of emoji" created by Burge in 2014.[36][37] According to the New York Times, he created the day on "July 17 based on the way the calendar emoji is shown on iPhones".[38][39] Tim Cook recognised the day in 2017.[40]
In 2017, Burge discussed the origin of World Emoji Day and Emojipedia[41] at AOL BUILD,[42] attended the lighting of the Empire State Building "emoji yellow"[43] with The Emoji Movie voice cast Patrick Stewart, Maya Rudolph and Jake T. Austin, and announced the winners of the annual World Emoji Awards from the New York Stock Exchange.[25][44]
Saks Fifth Avenue hosted a "Saks Celebrates World Emoji Day" red carpet event in 2017[45] which was attended by Burge.[46] On World Emoji Day 2019, Burge attended the launch of an exhibition at the National Museum of Cinema[47][48] and spoke alongside Unicode Consortium co-founder Mark Davis at The British Library.[49][50]
Burge claimed to "relax and enjoy it" in 2022, after stepping down from Emojipedia.[51]
Emoji Wrap
Burge hosted Emoji Wrap, a podcast[52] from Emojipedia[53] covering "global emoji news and trends"[54] between August 2016 and December 2020[55] interviewing guests including Mark Davis,[56] Myke Hurley,[57] Jason Snell[58] and Christina Warren.[59] The Guardian notes that Google product manager Agustin Fonts was "hesitant about shifting to a water pistol" when discussing the Android gun emoji with Burge on the Emoji Wrap podcast.[60]
Writing and Podcasting
Burge was a regular news contributor to Emojipedia 2014–2020[61] and was responsible for many of the initial emoji definitions on the reference website.[62] Additionally he has written for publications such Six Colors,[63] Medium,[64][65] and The Internet Review.[66]
In 2019, Burge raised the issue of Facebook using user-submitted phone numbers for undocumented purposes,[67][68] and in 2020, he identified TikTok accessing user clipboard data on every keystroke.[69]
In August 2023, Radio New Zealand reported that Burge was writing for Mobile Tech Journal. As of 2026, Burge writes regular news and analysis on public transport on Express Transit.[70]
Since 2017, Burge has appeared frequently on podcasts from Relay[71] As of 2026, Burge is a regular contributor covering transport for ABC Radio Melbourne.[72]
Public speaking
The Evening Standard reported that Burge "lectured on the history and social impact of emojis" at TEDxEastEnd at London's Hackney Empire in 2017.[73] Burge has spoken at conferences such as The Next Web in Amsterdam,[74] Smart Future in Riga,[75] Design Matters in Copenhagen[76] and Úll in Killarney.[77]
Institutions that have hosted Burge include Eton College,[78] Eye Magazine,[79] Google,[80] London Design Museum,[81] The British Library,[82] and University College London.[83][84]
Personal life
Burge was born in Western Australia,[85] and educated at Assumption College, Kilmore[86] before graduating from Deakin University.[87] In 2019[88][89] Burge moved onto a 53 ft narrowboat named Dottie M[90] and gained popularity on TikTok with viral videos[91] navigating rivers and canals of the United Kingdom.[92][93]
In 2024, Burge told the Sydney Morning Herald he was splitting his time living between the UK and Melbourne, Australia.[94]
Burge was caught in a power outage in Wallingford, UK, in 2025.[95]
