Not really, they mean totally different things to different generations etc. and to add to that depending on your app and system they render completely different as to change the entire meaning.

And that is before taking into account totally arbitrary shortcuts and meanings are introduced in various communities.

As a communication tool within a tight group, sure. But outside that emojis are pretty darn bad. Unless you stick to the subset that pretty closely maps to ascii smileys.

I’ve seen emojis completely banned on some codes of conduct because of potential offence. The OK hand symbol, the basic smiley face, or using the white skin tone on Slack could all be seen as hostile by some groups of people. Yeah it’s a bit crazy but this is one of the necessities of inviting lots of diverse groups of different ages and backgrounds to work together - there’s less of a base of shared communication and more risk of angering others, so communication must become more formal and defensive (at least until people establish good will with each other).