“Most people at work use the ‘thumbs-up’ reaction all the time.
“I don’t use it much. I either ‘heart’ reactions or reply even if it’s a short ‘Great!’ or ‘Thanks!’ (I also feel like I use too many exclamation marks, but that’s a different story).
“Anyway, I think it’s normal to ‘thumbs up’ messages, but I still feel like it’s such an unsettling response.
“Does anyone else feel this way?”
They wrote: “I started an ‘adult’ job where we use Microsoft Teams to connect with each other for work.
Naturally, there’s been a raft of responses, with people divided on what the emoji actually means and how it should be used.
One person comments: “For younger people (I’m 24 for reference) the thumbs up emoji is used to be really passive-aggressive.
“It’s super rude if someone just sends you a thumbs up. So I also had a weird time adjusting because my workplace is the same.
“Everyone my age in the office doesn’t do it, but the Gen X people always do it. Took me a bit to adjust and get out of my head that it means they’re mad at me.”
A second user agrees: “I understand what you mean, 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 emoji].
“I don’t know why but it seemed a little bit hostile to me, like an acknowledgment but kind of saying ‘I don’t really care/am not interested?”
A third writes: “It’s not that odd to see it as passive-aggressive.
“Just imagine how would it feel to go into your boss’ room, say something, and then see him turn to you, look you in the eye, and [give you a thumbs up].”
However, many disagree that the emoji is an act of aggression.
One user says: “Passive aggressive? Are you being serious or facetious? It’s a thumbs up.
“It means ‘I got it’ or ‘OK, message received’.
“What in the world can possibly be passive-aggressive in that? Newsflash, not everything is a micro-aggression.”
A 40-year-old, who says they use the ‘thumbs up’ emoji ’90 percent of the time, has been left confused by those who find it ‘unsettling’ and have questioned whether it’s simply a ‘generational thing’.
Fox News host Emily Compagno says she doesn’t care what Gen Z thinks about her and the emojis she uses in a recent debate on the channel.
“We have to somehow change our behavior and our silent communication because they’re a bunch of snowflakes? No, thanks,” she comments.
