Still using thumbs up or smileys? Here’s what they mean to Gen Z

One can almost always guess the age of someone from the way they use emojis. If a text is followed by the classic laughing face with tears of joy (😂), it is most likely from a millennial. If it includes a skull (💀) or a crying face (😭) to indicate something funny, chances are the sender is a Gen Z.

If you have ever used a simple thumbs up (👍) or smiley (🙂) to encourage a Gen Z friend or colleague, only to receive frantic replies or a panicked call, you will know how much the tone of emojis has changed.

There have long been jokes about texts being misread. One might assume emojis solved this problem, but the generational divide has only widened it. Most millennials are emotionally and linguistically distant from Gen Z lingo. Meanwhile, Gen Z sees millennial usage as flat and overly literal.

Where millennials relied on a consistent code of emojis to express feelings, Gen Z embraces randomness and irony. To them, the more random and abstract the emoji choice, the more sense it makes.

Before emojis, text-based emoticons were popular. Colons, brackets and symbols were arranged to create simple faces: “:)” for a smile, “:(” for sadness, “:D” for excitement, and “<3” for a heart. In the late 1990s, a Japanese designer, Shigetaka Kurita, working for NTT DoCoMo, created the first set of 176 pictographs. They spread quickly, and by the 2010s, Apple and Android had integrated emoji keyboards, making them a universal language.

For millennials, who grew up with the early era of social media, emojis became an essential part of texting. Favourites included 😂, 👍, and 🙏, often used literally,  a smiley for happiness, a heart for affection, or clapping hands to applaud or congratulate.

Gen Z has dismissed 😂 as out of touch. Instead, they say “I’m dead with laughter” using 💀 or 😭, which can also express cuteness aggression or disbelief. ✨ adds emphasis or an extra wow factor, while 🤡 signals “clown energy,” poking fun at themselves or others for being silly, delusional, or making mistakes. 🌚 conveys sarcasm or suspicion, and 💅 signals diva-like confidence or “baddie” energy (no longer an insult). The Italian pinched fingers emoji expresses approval or that something is lit (exciting or amazing). 🚶‍♀️ means “bye, I’m leaving” after an embarrassing moment, ☕ is used for gossip or “spilling the tea,” and 👀 signals interest or casually checks in on someone with a simple “you still there?”

Gen Z also uses hearts differently. The classic red ❤️ is seen as basic, with many preferring the finger heart (popularised by K-pop) or the two hands forming a heart emoji. 🖤 represents dark humour or edgy vibes, 💛 is for friendship, 💙 to “ice someone out” or call them cold. 💜 is strongly tied to BTS and their fandom, Army, symbolising enduring love. 🤍 suggests 'I choose peace,' while 💚 can have shady undertones, often paired with a snake emoji. 💔 is usually used ironically to mean “that hurt,” 💘 is a dramatic way of saying “I’m in love,” and 💖, the sparkling heart, represents exaggerated affection or playful drama.

But the real icons, the showstoppers, are the single tear emoji and the teary-eyed emoji, which perfectly capture Gen Z’s self-proclaimed state of perpetual sadness.

Millennial favourites, however, take on different meanings. 🙂 is now seen as passive-aggressive, 👍 as either ‘good job for messing that up’ or simply dismissive, and 🙏 as ‘that’s enough, please just leave.’ Also, millennials should stop trying to make the “😍” emoji happen, it’s not going to.

But Gen Z reworks these emojis into new tasteful combinations, '🙂👍' for 'barely holding on but fine,' '🙂✋' for 'please stop,' '🌚🎀' for playful 'pookie' vibes, and '👉🏼👈🏼' for nervousness. Emojis like puppy eyes 🥺 or the kneeling figure are used for apology, vulnerability or begging, sometimes with the nervous fingers added for extra effect.

But if you really want to text like a Gen Z, then start by not replying. Nothing is more peak Gen Z behaviour than leaving a message unanswered. Just mute your notifications and take a social break. If you can’t solve it, just scroll past it. Denial isn’t a river in Egypt, it’s a lifestyle.