The humble thumbs up emoji has become the latest battleground in the ongoing war between generations.
Last year, a Gen Z LinkedIn user declared that younger people had officially “canceled” the thumbs up emoji, arguing that it comes across as cold, dismissive, or passive-aggressive. And now it’s back in the news again, with another viral post, because people still can’t seem to agree.
A lot of people agreed that a simple thumbs up feels cold compared to a friendly written response. But then Gen X jumped into the comments with plenty of sarcastic thumbs up emojis, saying they have no plans to retire it anytime soon.
One person replied only with, “ok,” which might be even more controversial.
So, since generations react to emojis so differently, maybe it’s just best to take a few extra seconds to type out a response? But if you’re sticking with the thumbs up, consider throwing in an eyeroll emoji too. That should take it up a notch.
How do you feel about the thumbs up emoji?