MILLENNIALS and Gen X beware. Gen Z has revealed the specific emoticons that reveal your age – and insists some of the most common symbols have no place in work conversations.
And according to the youngest people in the workforce, there’s one popular emoji that reads as particularly passive-aggressive, even if that’s not the intent.
A recent Reddit poster asked, “Am I not old enough to be comfortable with the thumbs up emoji?”
While Gen Zers agreed, Millennials disagreed—and the conversation quickly turned into generational warfare.
“For younger people, the thumbs up emoji is used as really passive-aggressive,” wrote a 24-year-old Redditor.
Countering that claim, one Millennial said they consider it a search confirmation.
“Why do you think it’s disturbing? Fair question… BC. this is literally how I respond to 90% of messages… I’m almost 40 though so I wonder if it’s a generational thing…” one user replied.
The problem resulted in a small communication barrier between the generations.
“Everyone my age in the office doesn’t, but the Gen Xers always do,” added the 24-year-old.
“It took me a while to adjust and get it out of my head that this meant they were mad at me.”
The user’s peers agreed with his argument and thought he might be offended.
“At my last job, there was a WhatsApp chat where our team was sending information to each other, and most of the people there just responded with a thumbs up,” commented one woman.
She continued, “I don’t know why, but it seemed a little hostile to me.”
Backing up her claim, business consultant Sue Elson told The Daily Mail that people in the workplace should consider listening to Gen Z.
However, she believes that words are always better than symbols.
“Predictive systems can enter a word like ‘Thank you’ in two clicks after a while,” she said. “We feel people are ‘too lazy’ to write a written response and it doesn’t provide clarity on next steps.”
Elson added: “You mean ‘Yes, I’ll do something,’ ‘Okay, I agree,’ or it’s just an acknowledgment that you got the message.”
In the Reddit post, most people weren’t too bothered by the thumbs up emoji, but believed the heart emoji was inappropriate.
“To me, the heart is reserved for friends and family and has a more intimate meaning of love, while the thumbs up is just consent. I’m 43,” commented one user.
“I actually find heart emojis weird for business messages,” said another commenter.
“I use heart emojis for things like when someone says, ‘I have a new kitten,’ or ‘Susie did a really great job.’ If I agree with the idea of praising Susie, and I really like Susie, I might put a heart.”
Perspectus Global polled 2,000 16- to 29-year-olds who said the thumbs-up and heart emojis are for older people.
Here are some emoticons that think you’re over the hill:
- Fingers crossed
- Red heart
- OK symbol.
- Bookmark
- if
- Loud crying face
- Monkey covers eyes
- Clapping hands
- Lipstick kiss
- Grimacing face
Although Gen Z advises older people to avoid emoticons while at work, Millennials and Gen X believe it is appropriate and can have several meanings.
“I love it because it means many, many things. It means ‘I approve’ or ‘I understand and I will ‘obey’ or ‘I agree,’” said one woman.
She continued: “If anything, my only objection would be that some days it can be hard to tell what it means. But overall it’s pretty clear,”
However, Elson stands firm in his argument, saying that this variability can easily be misunderstood.
“It potentially has many different meanings depending on the cultural background of the recipient – approval, happiness, encouragement, number one or surfacing in a dive,” she said.
She believes that thumbs up should be “reserved for social media or text messages at most.”