国外Z世代评选"十大中老年表情包"，这个表情挑衅又冒犯
Gen Z canceled the ‘hostile’ thumbs-up emoji

Sending a thumbs-up can be seen as passive aggressive and even confrontational, according to Gen Z who claim they feel attacked whenever it is used.Z世代将“点赞”视为带有挑衅色彩，甚至是咄咄逼人的表情。在任何聊天中对他们使用这个表情，他们都会感到被冒犯。

Whether the chat is informal, between friends or at work the icon appears to have a very different, 'rude' meaning for the younger generation.

A 24-year-old on Reddit summed up the Gen Z argument, saying it is best 'never used in any situation' as it is 'hurtful'.

'No one my age in the office does it, but the Gen X people always do it. Took me a bit to adjust and get [it] out of my head that it means they're mad at me,' he added.

Others agreed it is bad form, especially at work where it can make the team appear unfriendly and unaccommodating.

'My last workplace had a WhatsApp chat for our team to send info to each other on and most of the people on there just replied with a thumbs up. I don't know why but it seemed a little bit hostile to me,' one woman said.

One Reddit user noted that the thumbs up actually means that “I’ve read your message and have nothing [to] add and I hope and pray … all the bazillion people in this group chat have nothing to say on it too.”

Older workers appeared flummoxed by the reaction, noting they use the thumbs up in work-related chats to signal “I approve” or “I understood and will obey.”

Part of the issue is that young people tend to use the thumbs up in jest.

“I only use it sarcastically, though sometimes I’m not even sure if the irony comes across,” Barry Kennedy, 24, told The New York Post. He said he only used it to communicate with boomers like his parents or older colleagues.

On Reddit, some were less offended by the thumbs-up emoji but felt the heart symbol was actually the most inappropriate.

“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,'” commented one person.

A survey of 2,000 people conducted by Perspectus Global showed that a majority of people between the ages of 16 and 29 believe that you are “officially old” if you use thumbs-up or heart emoji.

Other emojis used by 'old people' that ranked in the top ten include the tick, the OK hand and grimacing face.

The top 10 emojis that make you look 'old'

1 - Thumbs up - 24%