In a world where phones are taking over people have gotten away from having a face to face conversations.  Emojis and acronyms rule our method of speaking to one another.

It almost seems trivial to have this conversation but in speaking with other co-workers and friends I've found I'm not alone in thinking the Thumbs Up Emoji needs to know its place in the world of conversation on social media and through text.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT GENERATIONAL GROUPS?

Gen Z groups were born between 1997-2012 and they are anywhere between 11 and 26 years old.  Millennials were born from 1981 to 1996 and their age range is 27 to 42.  Gen X my group of folks are born from 1965-1980 and the ages are 43 to 58.  Finally, Boomers are from 1955-1964 and their ages are 59-68.

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EVERYONE SEES THINGS DIFFERENTLY

Obviously, many of us that are 35 plus that went through the age of no cell phones and actual landlines and actually being made to communicate.  Gen Z and some millennials have learned to communicate mainly through a cell phone and not have to even open their mouth or lift their heads to greet someone.  Please note this doesn't mean if you fall into one of these categories you feel this way.  The ironic thing is that the younger generation thinks the thumbs-up emoji is passive-aggressive and so do I and I'm a lot older.  Seems crazy to me that if you were born before the 90s it's supposed to be considered a normal response.

MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE THUMBS-UP EMOJI

I'm a talker and it comes out in my responses in text and on social media.  I'm not a thumbs-up person.  I know I shouldn't expect others to do the same but if I send you a heartfelt message or take the time to send a message to you and I get a thumbs-up it burns my butt.  It is especially rude in my opinion when you are communicating with someone in a professional situation and they respond with a thumbs-up.  I ask myself are we five years old?  I recently had this happen with someone in a professional setting and they responded with a thumbs-up.  I didn't know this person but I immediately thought to myself that's unprofessional.

Furthermore, when someone sends a long response to you in a message and all you do is like, laugh, or love something and don't send a response is that being lazy or not really caring?  I'm sure most people don't mean it that way but it sure comes across that way.

I'm not a professional when it comes to analyzing conversations but I did ask several different people what they thought from co-workers to friends and here are some of the responses I got.

I use it if I'm in a hurry and I am just letting someone know I got their message and I don't feel like it really requires a response. -Sara

 

I don't find it offensive.  I use it often.  But I can see that one might find see it that way.  I write all day and sometimes I just don't have it in me to write a long response.-Spencer

 

If you are dealing with someone for work or in a professional manner and they respond with a thumbs-up emoji then yes but I will do it and I don't mean it rude if I am talking to a friend.-Deb

Everyone is going to communicate how they want but take into consideration next time you go to hit that thumbs-up emoji if the response deserves something more.

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