The emojis include: Thumbs-up □, red heart ❤️, “OK” hand □, checkmark ✅, poo □, loud crying face □, monkey covering eyes □, clapping hands □, lipstick kiss mark □ and grimacing face □. Also, according to the New York Post, a study conducted by Perspectus Global of over 2,000 people aged 16 to 29, revealed 10 emojis that are, as the New York Post puts it, "canceled." The crying laughing emoji, for example, is seen by younger generations to be stale, according to CNN. Yes, there are a handful of other emojis that have taken on meanings other than their intended function, which is just to be literal and decorative. Are there other emojis that can be taken out of context? However, many agreed with the original post and doubled down that the thumbs-up emoji can feel indirectly aggressive, particularly in a workplace setting.Ĭlearly, people have strong opinions on both sides of the spectrum on this matter. Do you know how your use of emojis are being perceived? But it is generally pretty clear," one user replied. It means 'I approve' or 'I understood and will obey' or 'I agree.' If anything, my only objection would be that some days it might be hard to tell which one it means. "I love it because it means many many things. Others expressed their support for the thumbs-up emoji. You guys changed the meaning for some reason." It’s not passive-aggressive at all that I’ve seen - it seems to be a younger generational thing. Definitely had to reprogram my gut reaction to seeing the thumbs up react or reply from coworkers," one user - who didn't reveal their age but said they would ask what their 25-year-old husband thought later on - replied in the thread.Īnother user replied to that comment: "What the kids do, is not what everyone else adopts. "The general consensus I see with all my friends and all over the internet is that it’s way rude. The original Reddit post titled, "Am I not adult enough to be comfortable with the 'thumbs up' emoji reaction?" got a shocking amount of replies from both ends of the spectrum.
Can the 'thumbs-up' emoji be seen as passive aggressive? Short answer: Yes, depending on who - or perhaps what generation - you're asking. Are certain emojis perceived in a context that's anything other than literal?
This Reddit thread is an example of the rising generational debate that spans far beyond the thumbs-up emoji. Anyway, I think it’s normal to ‘thumbs up’ messages, but I still feel like it’s such an unsettling response. I either ‘heart’ reactions or reply even if it’s a short “Great!” or “Thanks!” (I also feel like I use too many exclamation marks, but that’s a different story). "Most people at work use the ‘thumbs up’ reaction all the time," the person wrote. Several months ago, a Reddit user took to the platform to ask if anyone else felt "unsettled" by the use of the thumbs-up emoji, sharing an example of workplace messaging conversations. But now you know and better late than never.Something that was once thought to be a fun addition to texting or messaging has now become a highly contested topic between generations, and recent debate has spurred from one conversation on the internet pertaining to a commonly used emoji: the thumbs-up. This sure is a revelation for a lot of the not so young people. The 30-year-old Tiktoker also revealed in the video that she got to know these since she was sharing a college dorm with Gen Z students, who had a hang of what these emojis stood for. An inverted face emoji means to fret with life while two eyes mean that we are listening. She also pointed out that the sideways face emoji, which has one eye larger than the other and sticks its tongue out, implies “silly”. Talking about the other emojis, she said that the teary-eyed emoji represents innocence or being horny. Scarlett also pointed out that several other emojis are also interpreted wrongly as we do not know their real purpose. That probably means that many of us have insulted the people we have sent the emoji to without either them or us knowing it. “If you ever receive the thumbs up emoji, be insulted immediately,” she said.
However, a TikTok user named earlier this year, shared a one-minute long video talking about the real meaning of emojis as Gen Z kids use them and the thumbs up emoji was one of them.Īccording to The Sun, Scarlett revealed that the thumbs-up emoji was meant to denote passive-aggressiveness. It is often sent to display our approval to something or just as a substitute for ‘ok’. However, how many of us know what each of these emojis stands for?Ī popular emoji that almost everyone uses is the Thumbs Up. Who has time to type for that long? With a wide array of emojis to choose from, it is much easier to express our thoughts. In today’s fast-paced life, most of our online interactions involve the usage of emojis.