Emoji understanding in online experiences

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a network-based provider and over a network, a message containing text, the message input by a user using a messaging application on a client machine, the input including at least one emoji;
• using a computed vector representation of the at least one emoji of the message to look for vector representations of words or phrases that are close to the computed vector representation of the at least one emoji;
• selecting at least one of the words or phrases;
• and
• performing at least one task by substituting the at least one of the words or phrases for the at least one emoji, wherein at least one task pertains to a response-based task in which a formulated reply message that includes the substituted at least one of the words or phrases can be transmitted over the network back to the client machine for output by the messaging application.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoding computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processing unit, performs a method, comprising:

• receiving, with a network-based provider and over a network, a message containing text, the message input by a user using a messaging application on a client machine;
• computing, by the network-based provider, a vector representation of the text of the message;
• ascertaining, by the network-based provider, one or more emojis that correspond to the computed vector representation of the text;
• formulating, by the network-based provider, a reply message that includes at least one of the one or more emojis;
• and
• communicating the formulated reply message over the network to the client machine for output by the messaging application.