Why the Evil Eye Emoji Is Everywhere on Social Media

Amrita Dhar was inspired by her friend to start using the evil eye emoji on social media posts, comments, and captions. The 23-year-old HR professional said that her friend was facing recurrent problems with her vaccination, visa procedure, and finding a job abroad. Discouraged, her friend began using the evil eye emoji in all her social media posts that she didn’t want jinxed. Slowly, she claimed, things began to fall in place. Dhar was convinced that there was some power in the ocular cobalt blue emoji that was protecting her friend from “nazar” or the “evil eye.” She, too, started using it across her social media profiles. “If it is helping her, maybe it will help me as well,” she told VICE about her belief.

If you are from a South Asian household, chances are you’ve heard your parents or relatives say, “nazar lag gayi” (you have caught the evil eye), at one point or another. But “nazar” is hardly a South Asian concept. It is believed that the evil eye dates back 3,000 years to ancient Roman and Greek cultures, and is found to be relevant in Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The belief is that anyone who has more than their “fair share” of wealth, success, good health and luck, or anything else that might be seen as valuable can attract envy or the malefic gaze – be it intentional or otherwise. This envy can turn into a curse that results in a person losing that very quality or presumed advantage. 

“Nazar” is also used to refer to the now-ubiquitous eye-shaped amulet that is said to have originated in Turkey at least 3,000 years ago. Belief in the amulet that is said to have the strength to repel the “evil eye” transcends cultures and generations. Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle is credited with popularising the talisman after she wore accessories featuring the amulet in 2019 and 2020. Soon after, the symbol was reinterpreted on everything, from clothes and home décor to manicures and tattoos. 

Lately, the nazar amulet emoji, has taken over the digital world as well, where it is frequently seen in messages, captions, WhatsApps, Stories, and Reels, thanks to its frequent use by zoomers and millennials. It only makes sense for this superstitious belief to cross over into the digital realm, though, considering these platforms are largely meant for the public eye.

Introduced across texting platforms in 2018 by the Unicode Consortium, a non-profit whose responsibilities include developing software internationalisation standards and data, there are slight differences in the emoji design depending on the social media platform it is being accessed on. The WhatsApp and Facebook designs include a small hole on the top, as if the amulet were to be threaded on a string or chain, while the Instagram one is that of dark blue, white, and light blue concentric circles with a black dot in the centre. And it’s found lots of takers across the platforms.

PhD student Konpal Kaur refrains from sharing her academic achievements, her friends’ successes, or anything that relates to her partner on any social media platform. “Any time I posted about [something] that I really cherish, I could feel the bad juju of the digital world translate into the real world,” she explained. 

Kaur, however, admitted that her belief in nazar is not entirely rational. “[It’s] part blind faith, but anything that gives you hope in this world, you take with both hands.” While she sends evil-eye emojis in messages to her friends whenever there is positive news, she makes sure to use it discreetly on her Instagram stories, hiding them behind pictures, so as not to attract “any unnecessary attention.” Kaur goes one step further by wearing her evil-eye amulet when posting on social media.

When Aditi Goel, an illustrator, joined her new workplace, she ensured that the option to notify people on her LinkedIn Profile was turned off. “I try to live a private life but there are certain things I want to share as well,” she said, adding that when she does share, she makes sure to include the talismanic evil eye emoji at the end. “Somebody tagged me on Instagram with a positive video of my workplace. My friends responded positively, and I replied to everyone with the evil eye. I was so scared that [their messages] might attract bad energy!”

While Goel strongly believes in the power of nazar, Dhar admits that it might be her “delusion.” “Perhaps it’s my weak conscience or my fragile mind that blames it on other people, saying it didn’t happen because they didn’t want it to happen, but I end up feeling like it would’ve been better if I had kept it to myself,” Dhar said.

When she recently shared images of a friend and her on Instagram Stories, she “safeguarded” it with the evil eye emoji because the caption described their dream trip to Paris. “I usually put the emoji whenever I am sharing certain aspects of something that are out of my control – like health or travel. It’s a soothing balm for me, for the sake of my sanity,” she added. 

Delhi-based fashion designer Saurabh Kumar says that even though he doesn’t know if the evil eye amulet emoji works, he believes in its potency holistically and tries to “manifest it to work.” 

“I am putting that energy out to nullify any negative energy around me,” he said. Kumar uses the emoji to shield everything from his house to pet and his family to partner from “nazar” because he noticed things getting “jinxed” consecutively after he started sharing aspects of his life on social media. “I can’t pinpoint but I think it’s the lifestyle I am living right now that I want to protect, essentially.”

Abstinence from social media doesn’t apply to influencers, even if they believe in nazar, as their profession often requires them to frequently post online. When Aishwarya Sharma – known as @figuramoda to her Instagram followers and who describes herself as a “fashion activist” – started garnering a lot of interest in her content, she became even more conscious of nazar and started using the evil eye emoji frequently on her Instagram stories, videos, comments, and captions. “I am obsessed with that symbol. I’m usually very private about my life, so when I share anything related to my family or friends on my Instagram, I make sure to put the evil eye emoji. I want to communicate that it is sacred. There is some manifestation in putting the symbol that this is secure.”

Sushant Divgikar, a queer activist and one of India’s most popular drag artists, would often be told “tumko nazar lag gayi” (you have caught the evil eye) whenever something negative happened to them. But they refused to believe it until they became a public figure and a social media influencer. “When there is hate on social media, it affects you in a way that cannot be explained,” they said. 

Divgikar said that besides the fact that “the evil eye symbol is quite nice to look at,” they also use it to protect anything that is positive and cheerful. They referred to one of their recent posts – a video with Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha – in which they used the emoji in the caption “to secure the good vibes.”

But can the nazar be sent virtually? That’s probably a question as redundant as whether the nazar can be sent at all. Superstitions, after all, often boil down to merely belief devoid of any kind of proof. However, celebrity astrologer Sundeep Kochar doesn’t believe that nazar, as well as the potency of the evil eye, extends to the digital space. “It is the insecurity of the person, the fear of losing something they have achieved that makes them try to safeguard it with the symbol,” he said. “It has become somewhat of an aesthetic because of its global popularity.”

Be it a staunch belief system, sheer insecurity about the often overwhelming reach of digital media, or simply its aesthetic, it can’t be denied that the use of the evil eye transcends Reel and real lives. Like Goel said, “I don’t know if it actually works or not, but I feel I am protected whenever I put out the emoji.”

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