/ 13 August 2021

When emoji eyes are smiling

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It might not mean what you think… If you’re texting a Gen Z-er, you might want to lay off using the smiling emoji. For many teens and 20-somethings, a smiley face is actually a patronising pat on the head – or worse, it’s outright passive-aggressive… Instead, replace it with the skull and crossbones or skull emoji, which, FYI, is Gen Z shorthand for “that’s so funny” [insight mind blown emoji here… we think]. According to digital body language expert Erica Dhawan, over 30yos use emojis to convey the dictionary definition of what an emoji represents, whereas younger “digital natives” are sarcasm supremos or a whole other thing. Take the upset, frowning face emoji, for example. Older folks might think “frustrated”, but it has a, let’s say, a flirty meaning for Gen Z-ers. There’s nothing like googling what an emoji means to make you feel old…

Image source: kolotuschenko/Getty Images/iStockphoto

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