The Greatest Generation stormed the beaches of Normandy, but Generation Z has a problem with emoji.
A Reddit thread became a safe space where Gen Z unpacked their problems with various commonly used symbols, such as the thumbs-up, the heart, the checkmark and clapping hands.
The thread began with a younger person admitting to not being “adult enough to be comfortable with the thumbs-up emoji reaction.” Others claimed it was dismissive and “passive-aggressive” in a work setting.
Another even called the thumbs-up “hostile” to them.
Now imagine that person’s grandad on Mount Suribachi.
Another Redditor confessed they used the thumbs-up, but, “I actually find a heart emoji weird for work messages,” explaining, “I use heart emoji’s [sic] for things like when someone says ‘I got 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.”
Some agreed, calling the heart “unsettling.”
Regardless of your intention, using particular pictograms can make you look “old” to your younger counterparts. A survey of Gen Zers agreed that using the two aforementioned symbols were at the top of the list, but “clapping hands,” the “crying laughing” emoji, the “poop” one, as well as “monkey covering eyes” and the “OK” symbol were among those that betray someone’s age.
Microaggressions aside, you might be wise to skip the emoji altogether: As previously reported, a study out of Israel earlier this year showed using them for work correspondences makes you seem “less powerful.”