The big outrage war could be over

It's only a matter of time before civilisation collapses - not from climate change, economic implosion or someone saying 'Bismillah!' in the other room, but from the catastrophic misinterpretation of an emoji. The next big outrage could well be sparked by a politician tweeting, intending to celebrate agriculture. Within seconds, the internet will convulse. Think tanks will convene emergency panels. While social media will circulate fury for someone in public office sending out a message perceived to be obscene. Or it could be a CEO replying to a heartfelt resignation letter with. He meant: 'Good luck, proud of you.' The world hears: 'Good riddance to bad rubbish.' Stock prices plummet. Hashtags trend. The thumbs-up becomes the new Nazi salute.

The beauty of emoji outrage is its universality and ability to be misunderstood without the handrail of any language. A single can topple reputations. A misplaced can be read as either 'I'm laughing my skull off' or 'I wish you dead'. And let's not even go to. Your 'thank you' or 'namaste' can well be someone else's 'Chhod do, yaar!' or disrespectful 'high-five'. It's toxic ambiguity. So, brace yourself. The next cultural war won't be fought over ideology, but over whether is passive-aggressive, or just quirky. Historians will look back and say: Rome fell to barbarians. We fell to Unicode.