The ever-watchful eyes of Gen Z has found a new target: the seemingly innocent thumbs up emoji.

While for many, the “thumbs up” symbol is considered harmless, the youngsters of Gen Z believe it’s passive-aggressive and even rude.

Gen Z, or Generation Z, refers to the demographic cohort born roughly between the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s. They have built a reputation on the internet for being tech-savy trendsetters, redefining culture and challenging the status quo.

A Reddit user’s post sparked a discussion about the “thumbs up” emoji between youngsters and the older crowd

Image credits: Emojisprout / Unsplash

One young employee complained about the thumbs up emoji on a Reddit thread and sparked a discussion about the symbol.

For the older crowd, the thumbs up emoji is akin to a friendly nod, a pat on the back, or simply an acknowledgement of or agreement to the information provided. But the Reddit users on the thread felt it was “unsettling” and possibly even downright hostile.

“I started an ‘adult’ job where we use Microsoft Teams to connect with each other for work. Currently, there only a few emojis you can use to react to a message (unless of course, you respond, and can use any emoji),” the user wrote.

“Am I not adult enough to be comfortable with the ‘thumbs up’ emoji reaction?” the young worker said in the title of their Reddit post

Image credits: Denis Cherkashin / Unsplash

The user then went on to talk about how using the “thumbs up” as a reaction to messages is normal but they prefer using the heart.

“Most people at work use the ‘thumbs up’ reaction all the time. I don’t use it much. 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),” they said. “Anyway, I think it’s normal for to [sic] ‘thumbs up’ messages, but I still feel like it’s such an unsettling response. Does anyone else feel this way?”

A flood of responses were left on the young worker’s post.

“For younger people (I’m 24 for reference) the thumbs up emoji is used to be really passive aggressive,” one user said, sharing their own personal experience. “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. So yeah it’s a generational communication culture difference. Everyone my age in the office doesn’t do it but the gen X people always do it. Took me a bit to adjust and get out of my head that it means they’re mad at me.”

The hatred for the “thumbs up” emoji is a sentiment that resonates with many online

The thumbs up emoji is so passive aggressive & I will not be told otherwise 👍🏻

— 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝙷 🇸🇪 𝚡 𝙲𝙵𝙲💙 (@mrsLHK79) July 3, 2024

Am I the only one who hates the thumbs up emoji??? It looks sarcastic af like well done pal 👍🏻 lol NOT

— Danielle Thompson (@DanielleT9595) June 15, 2018

Why do Dad’s just reply with one words or that fucking thumbs up emoji?! Like what?! I am trying to have a conversation with you love!

Tell me you are a Daddy’s girl without telling me you are a Daddy’s girl….he does make me laugh 🤣🤣🤣🤣😆😆😆🥳 #daddybear ❤️🤍💙 pic.twitter.com/nBiRUK3vis

— Hayles ❤️😍👌💯🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@HayleyGirl10) June 20, 2024

I think today is the day to have “the talk” with my mom about the thumbs up emoji. It’s out of control. Send prayers.

— Kylo Ken (@starwarsstanboy) July 11, 2024

“It probably feels unsettling because it’s impersonal, and based just off this post, you seem like the kind of person who prefers more genuine interactions with others,” another wrote.

Another Reddit user, who said they were nearing the age of 40, said they would find the “heart reaction” more unsettling.

“Why do you feel like it’s unsettling? Honest question… Bc that’s literally how I respond to 90 per cent of messages… I’m almost 40 though, so I wonder if it’s a generational thing… I’d feel more unsettled w the heart reaction,” they said.

The World Emoji Day is commemorated on Wednesday, July 17, every year to celebrate the emojis we use nearly every day

Thank you for celebrating the 11th annual #WorldEmojiDay with us. 🙇

Until next time… ✨📆🫡 pic.twitter.com/9xVZ1lpphX

— World Emoji Day 📅 (@WorldEmojiDay) July 18, 2024

Image credits: Domingo Alvarez E / Unsplash

Another wrote, “I understand what you mean, my last workplace had a WhatsApp chat for our team to send info to each other on and most of the people on there just replied with a [thumbs up emoji]. I don’t know why but it seemed a little bit hostile to me, like an acknowledgement but kind of saying ‘I don’t really care/am not interested’? Don’t know if that’s the way you feel but I got used to it in time and I’m just as bad for sending a thumbs up now.”

It is interesting to note that World Emoji Day was celebrated last week on July 17.

Emojis and the framework for its usage were created by a California-based nonprofit called Unicode Consortium, which releases new emojis every year. But companies like Apple and Google are still free to create their own designs for these symbols, which have become an almost irreversible part of our communication today.

According to the Unicode Consortium website, there are a total of 3782 emojis at the moment.

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