Gen Z basically created cancel culture, from celebrities to skinny jeans, there’s no stopping the hammer of judgment from raining down on anything they deem remotely offensive.
And it seems emojis are next on their list.
With the “hostile” thumbs-up emoji the focus of their frustrations.
It seems that Gen Zers have been called out the emoji online for being too passive-aggressive.
This all came about after a Reddit user shared they felt they weren’t “adult enough to be comfortable with the thumbs-up emoji reaction.”
And the post received a lot of traction from other users who agreed with the comments.
“For younger people, the thumbs-up emoji is used to be really passive-aggressive,” another Redditor wrote in response to the post.
“It’s super rude if someone just sends you a thumbs up,” they added.
“So I also had a weird time adjusting because my workplace is the same.”
It seems that Gen Zers would prefer a typed-out response instead of the “rude” emoji.
“We’re people and we have words to use,” twenty-five-year-old Kim Law told the New York Post. “If I took the time out to write a thoughtful message then you shouldn’t be responding with the bare minimum. Fix it and write something real back.”
Many Redditors agreed that the emoji should be canceled, to prevent work environments from becoming “unaccommodating” or feeling “unfriendly.”
But it seems it doesn’t stop at the thumbs-up emoji, there’s actually a whole list many feel should be canceled.
On Reddit, some revealed they felt the heart symbol was more inappropriate.
“To me, the heart is reserved for friends and family, and has a more intimate meaning of love, while thumbs up is just simple agreeing,” one person commented.
“I actually find a heart emoji weird for work messages. I use heart emojis for things like when someone says ‘I got a new kitten,’ or ‘Susie did a really great job,’” added another.
And they aren’t the only ones…
According to a survey by Perspectus Global, which asked 2,000 people their thoughts on emojis, the majority agree.
In particular, the ages between sixteen and twenty-nine believe you are “officially old” if you use those particular emojis.
All in all, there are 10 emojis that the majority feel should be canceled…
These include the Thumbs-up, Red heart, “OK” hand, Checkmark, Poo, Loud crying face, Monkey covering eyes, Clapping hands, Lipstick kiss mark, and finally the Grimacing face.
What do you think?