Microsoft employees discover new Teams feature thanks to Pepe the Frog


Microsoft has started internally testing a new custom emoji feature for its Microsoft Teams communications platform. Multiple sources tell The Verge that Microsoft employees learned about the surprise new capability after animated emoji of Pepe the Frog — a meme with a troubled past — started appearing in reactions and messages on early internal versions of Microsoft Teams.
The Pepe the Frog emotes, which are now widely used in Discord servers and on Amazon’s Twitch streaming platform as lighthearted responses, appeared alongside other custom emoji that don’t ship in Microsoft Teams right now. We’re told Microsoft is testing the custom emoji feature in early so-called “dogfood” versions of Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams currently supports GIFs through the Giphy service, but these are separate from the emoji panel that appears within video calls and chat messages on the service. If Microsoft decides to roll this custom emoji feature out to all Teams users, it doesn’t mean that Pepe the Frog memes will ship by default, just the ability to add custom emoji. It will be up to IT admins to approve and allow new custom emoji — much like how Discord and Slack admins manage this.
The addition of Pepe the Frog to internal versions of Microsoft Teams surprised some employees because of the fraught history of this particular meme. While Pepe the Frog is widely used innocently these days, the cartoon frog was also co-opted by white supremacists years ago. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) added Pepe the Frog to its hate symbol database in 2016, but the advocacy group has since teamed with Pepe creator Matt Furie to back a “#SavePepe campaign to reclaim the symbol from those who use it with hateful intentions.”
Pepe is now used less commonly as a hate symbol than a reaction meme in Twitch chats. “Because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context,” says the ADL. “The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is racist or white supremacist.” The life, death, and rebirth of Pepe was explored in the documentary Feels Good Man.
Microsoft has not yet officially announced custom emoji for Microsoft Teams, and the feature is still in very early testing. Microsoft did acknowledge the highly requested feature had been added to a backlog of new additions seven months ago. Given custom emoji has existed for years in rival platforms like Slack and Discord, it’s more than likely to reach all Microsoft Teams users at some point this year.
We reached out to Microsoft for comment, but the company did not respond in time for publication.
Microsoft has started internally testing a new custom emoji feature for its Microsoft Teams communications platform. Multiple sources tell The Verge that Microsoft employees learned about the surprise new capability after animated emoji of Pepe the Frog — a meme with a troubled past — started appearing in reactions and…
Recent Posts
- Apple announces the iPhone 16e with Apple Intelligence for $599
- A popular Japanese distraction-free writing device is coming to the US
- Rivian’s new Dune edition lets you channel your inner Fremen
- Here’s when and where you can preorder the new iPhone 16E
- The Humane AI Pin debacle is a reminder that AI alone doesn’t make a compelling product
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010