Perhaps I am one of these old folks? To be fair many times I have no clue what an emoji means or why it is used at that particularly moment. I also believe there are too many and all thoseeanings are getting out of hand. For example the colours of Hearts. Why is one forced to think of there's a hidden meaning after each colour?
What I also don't like is that certain symbols/icons like rainbows can no longer be used simply because they are always associated with something it doesn't mean from origin meaning the older ones rather don't use emojis instead of being victim of assumptions.
Now I write this I all of a sudden understand why the EU decided to forbid the use of (certain?) emojis...they are old.
I understand your point of view and it is similar from the thoughts I gathered from few of my folks.
It is alright to choose to or not to make use of an emoji, the most important thing is to communicate. Just like you said, most of these emojis have a deeper meaning, it is difficult to keep up. Using some of them might mean expressing something different from what you intended.
Quite a point you've made.
Thanks for the feedback.