Oh, you thought using emojis made you hip and current? Wrong!
Well, according to Gen Z at least, there is one particular emoji that really shows your age.
And not in a good way.
Given that they are the first generation to be well and truly digital, this tracks, even if it was us poor millennials who started using emojis in the first place.
If this particular emoji is in your daily rotation that you might want to have a rethink to keep up with the kids…
What is the emoji Gen Z deem ‘old?’
For those of you who need a brief catch-up before you get into it, Gen Z are classed as anyone who was born between the years 1997-2012, who would be aged between 12 - 27.
This means the oldest members of Gen Z are now quickly approaching 30...and hey, one of them just became the first Gen Z First Lady of New York City, so they know what they're talking about!
According to the hosts of RTÉ 2FM, a new study shows that Gen Z view anyone who still uses the standard ‘crying with laughter’ emoji as officially out of touch.
In fact, our younger counterparts are much more likely to use the skull emoji to show when they find something funny, since they often reply ‘I’m dead’ to something that makes them laugh.
Even the founder of Emojipedia (!), Jeremy Burge, is backing Gen Z on this one. In a blog on his site, he says that: “It’s common knowledge on TikTok that the crying-laughing emoji is for boomers.”
Ouch!
And he’s not the only one! An actual linguist, Gretchen McCulloch, said that: “If you indicate digital laughter for years and years in the same way, it starts to feel insincere. … The hyperbole gets worn out through continued use. That’s why Gen Zers may be looking to fresh and novel ways to signal they’re laughing through different ways."
Well, that’s us told. Time to stop using the thumbs-up emoji while we’re at it…