Gen Z has declared the thumbs-up emoji has a “rude” meaning and should not be used in any conversation. While one young girl goes into battle to change offensive nerd emoji.
A post on Reddit sparked the discussion with one user claiming that they’re “not adult enough to be comfortable with the thumbs-up emoji reaction” — and revealed why they should never be used.
The thumbs-up emoji gives off a passive-aggressive and even confrontational air, according to Gen Zers, who were born between 1997 and 2019. Several even claimed that they felt attacked whenever it’s used.
One 24-year-old attempted to sum up the argument by saying the thumbs-up emoji is “hostile” and is “definitely a not nice thing”.
They explained, “For younger people (I’m 24 for reference) the thumbs-up emoji is used to be really passive-aggressive,” they wrote. “It’s super rude if someone just sends you a thumbs up. So I also had a weird time adjusting because my workplace is the same.”
“Everyone my age in the office doesn’t do it, but the Gen X people always do it,” they wrote. “Took me a bit to adjust and get out of my head that it means they’re mad at me.”
The poster explained a thumbs-up “is usually a response if the other person is being rude or annoying or stupid.”
Other generations (like me!) seemed totally confused by emoji etiquette.
“So it’s like a sarcastic thing? Man I’m getting old lol,” one wrote.
“What the kids do, is not what everyone else adopts. It’s not passive-aggressive at all that I’ve seen, it seems to be a younger generational thing,” added another.
And the heart emoji is OUT too!
The heart is also falling out of fashion. A survey of 2,000 people conducted by Perspectus Global showed that a majority of people between the ages of 16 and 29 believe that you are “officially old” if you use thumbs-up or heart emoji.
The official list of “cancelled” emoji includes: Thumbs-up, Red Heart, “OK” hand, Checkmark (or the Tick), Poo, Loud crying face, Monkey covering eyes, Clapping hands, Lipstick kiss mark, Grimacing face.
On another note – this young teenager begs for glasses to be removed from “nerd” emoji
Calls to change Nerd emoji
Lowri Moore, 13, who already went into battle with Disney to introduce a heroine with glasses, has now begged Unicode Consortium, which rules on emojis, to remove specs from the ‘nerds’ icon, insisting: ‘People who wear glasses are not nerds.’
Her campaign launched on Thursday – World Sight Day.
In a letter to the Unicode Consortium, the body responsible for all new emojis, Lowri said: ‘Unfortunately, the only glasses wearing emoji I can find is a nerd face.
‘People who wear glasses are not nerds.
‘But unless we address this, there’s a chance the next generation will grow up believing this lie about themselves.’
‘I am just trying to raise awareness for an issue which is large, especially for people my age, like teenagers, just to get glasses on emojis.
‘Even if it’s just one (emoji), this is a positive change.’
Earlier, she told her audience that bespectacled emojis were currently limited to a teacher, a grandmother and a nerd-type character.
‘It’s very stereotypical and I shouldn’t be put in a box,’ she said.
‘So many human beings just wear glasses so they can see, so why make it a stereotype and make people feel bad?’
‘It’s so simple, we’re not asking that every emoji has to wear glasses – let’s just have that option so people don’t feel negative about themselves,’ said Lowri.
‘A small difference can go a long way.’
Read more – Teaching kids to high-five shows a lack of respect