Boomers Blamed for Emoji’s Disappearance

So have you heard? Supposedly, the laughing and crying emoji has become old-fashioned and using it is a sure sign that you are old.

Stop the presses!

Gen Z, those born after 1997, have apparently declared this to be the case on social media, especially TikTok.

This despite the fact that the emoji has been extremely popular since 2017. As a CNN article noted: “‘Face With Tears of Joy,’ the official name for the laughing and crying emoji, is the most used emoji on Emojitracker, a website that shows the use of emoji in real time on Twitter”. In 2020, it was still the most popular emoji.

So what happened?

Are baby boomers to blame?

Of course, as with everything else, boomers are blamed for its demise. Jeremy Burge, director of emojis at Emojipedia, recently wrote a blog post saying, “It’s common wisdom on TikTok that the laughing and crying emoji is for boomers. And by boomers I mean anyone over the age of 35.”

God forbid, teens and young adults don’t want to be seen using the same emoji as their grandparents! But we’re not the only targets, as Burge’s over-35 comment demonstrates.

Interestingly, millennials (those born between 1980 and 1996), many of whom are trying to keep their cool as they approach their 30s and 40s, also appear to be the target this time around. Add in the overuse of this suddenly obnoxious emoji by millennials, calling their dog “doggo” (I didn’t even realize this was a thing), skinny jeans, and even the side parts are out too, and a sign of that you are old and “out of touch.”

As one millennial writer put it in an article for Yahoo! Sports: “As a lifelong partner, ouch.”

According to that article, Gen Z also makes fun of the way millennials use the word “adulting,” their addiction to avocado toast and Starbucks coffee, and the way they refer to themselves as “90s kids.” “.

It’s karma friends

The funny thing about all this is that some millennials have been making fun of us boomers for years.

Remember the popular phrase, “OK Boomer” that started making the rounds a couple of years ago? As I blogged on this topic, the term seemed to imply that boomers are old-fashioned, resistant to change, tech-behind, and out of touch.

So I guess what goes around comes around.

However, I hate to see someone using insulting and derogatory slogans based solely on the generation people were born into, which is completely out of our control, by the way. One day, Generation Z will grow old and no doubt get a taste of their own medicine. Everybody gets old eventually, you know.

Myself, I’m tired of the way all social platforms have made it too easy to insult each other. I’m tired of age discrimination. I wish mutual respect could replace this pointless teasing of each other. Why can’t the “generation gap” become old-fashioned and old-fashioned?

All that said, don’t take this to heart, millennials. One day, you’ll reach our age and you won’t care so much what other people think.

After a recent viral TikTok listed all the things millennials do that Gen Z doesn’t approve of, millennials responded by defending their fashion choices, hairstyles, and use of emoji. They pointed out that Generation Z was once encouraged to eat Tide Pods as a viral challenge and that younger people lack the ability to write in cursive. Therefore, there! But does all this really matter?

Calm down millennials, you will reach the age where you won’t care what others think about your emoji clothing and won’t feel this need to defend your choices.

In fact, I think this boomer will use the laughing and crying emoji even more just to be rebellious. And my side part stays too. And while I’m not a millennial, I do enjoy some avocado toast from time to time.

That’s the great thing about getting older, as I wrote when I turned 60. I know what matters, and emoji overuse is not one of them! They make fun of us, but being an older adult is liberating in that sense.

Don’t worry, millennials. you will get there