Example embodiments described herein relate to an icon based tagging system to associate a graphical icon (e.g., an emoji) with a data category, receive media content that includes a data object and the graphical icon, assign the media content to the data category based on the presence of the graphical icon within the media content, receive a search request that comprises search criteria that includes at least the graphical icon, and present a set of search results that include the media content in response to the search request.