Over the past few weeks, two Internet-savvy generations have been arguing in videos and commentary on TikTok over the hallmarks of millennial culture that Gen Z now considers uncool. The list includes skinny jeans, side panels, and perhaps the most painful of them all, the popular laugh cry emoji.
Will Mullery / CNN
By Kaya Yurieff, CNN Business
Bad news for people who use the 😂 emoji a lot: It’s not cool anymore.
Over the past few weeks, two Internet-savvy generations have been arguing in videos and comments on TikTok over the hallmarks of millennial culture that Gen Z now considers uncool. The list includes skinny jeans (Gen Z Judgment: Light Them Up) parts (Gen Z Judgment: Midsection or Bust) and perhaps most painfully of all, the popular laughing emoji that some millennials, myself included, do hundreds of times a day or more use.
“What’s wrong with the laughing emoji?[?]”Asked one user in a TikTok comment. Another replied,” This is it. “On another video of a woman who said she restricted its use after failing to learn children, a teen commented,” As a 15 year old I say you should use this emoji bc [because] we sure won’t. “
“I use everything except the laughing emoji,” 21-year-old Walid Mohammed told CNN Business. “I stopped using it a while ago because I’ve seen older people like my mom, my older siblings, and just older people in general.”
For many Gen Z-er, the 💀 emoji has become a popular substitute for conveying laughter. It’s the visual version of the slang phrase “I’m dead” or “I’m dying,” which means that something is very funny. Other acceptable alternatives: the 😠emoji (officially called “Loudly Crying Face”) or just “lol” (laugh out loud) or “lmao” (laugh my, well, you probably know the rest).
