unicode A Project about Unicode.

This is my dissertation S.E. Hackney - they/them/theirs University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and information Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship Abstract

Character-encoding standards are the means by which written text is rendered legible on, by, and for computers. The relationship between the digital computer, the information contained within it, and its user(s) is a complicated sociocultural one, which is built upon the history of machine-aided writing, as well as philosophical ideas about what text is and what it does. The infrastructural nature of computing standards, especially those for digital character encoding make them difficult to draw out from their highly-integrated place within the digital world. This research uses the public documentation of the Unicode Standard to explore the specific historical moments of the creation of the Standard and the incorporation of emojis into it, especially as it relates to the circulation of information and power within the digital realm.