Every time somebody sends me a thumb I take it as “whatever you say you fucking dumbass” and it pisses me off.
And ya, I’m aware that that the replies are going to be thumbs, let’s see em ya jerks!!!
It’s a pretty simple “acknowledged” to me. It’s a “I’ve not just seen your message, I’ve read it, and I have no further comments”.
I don’t think I’ve ever interpreted it as rude.
Nah, and to be honest it threw me off to hear some people interpet it that way. It’s always meant “acknowledged” or “I agree, no notes” to me.
If I wanted to be rude I’d do this instead: 👍🙄
in response to plans?
chill.
in response to something like a political opinion?
highly sarcastic.
👍
I give a 👍 on a reaction message all the time cause I’m too lazy to respond to it using words
Why waste word when 👍 do trick?
Reacting with “I agree” instead of 👍 in the reaction field can completely disrupt a conversation.
GenX here. Shit, I do thumbs up frequently to confer agreement.
And I will indeed give you a middle finger emoji to say, “you fucking dumbass.”Millennial here, I use the shit emoji
Boomer here, what’s an emoji?
Depends on who’s saying it and to what, and in what manner (message reaction, its own separate text).
“Hey who wants pizza tonight?” in the group text.
Bunch of👍reactions mixed in with some 🍕 and 🕺
That’s normal and people agreeing with you.
“Hey could you pick up some toilet paper on the way home?”
👍 reaction.
That’s a neutral kind of acknowledgement.
“Hey man, that was pretty fucked what you said back at the party. I think the others want to talk to you about it.”
“👍”
That’s rude and dismissive, and not just an acknowledgement text.
Aka context matters, like all forms of english communication.
First of all - I’m shocked that anyone would use a thumb up like in your last example. That’s obviously extremely rude and disrespectful.
Second of all - I’m shocked that some people can’t see the difference of the usage of the thumb up and believe that it’s always rude, regardless of context.
It’s a little bit of a generational/cultural gap, I think! Like how
Ok.andOk...are fully normal to boomers, but anyone millennial and younger are going to read that as being short, or as an ominous trailing off compared to the neutral, no-caps-no-punctuationkkorok.I think children up through the younger end of millennials are just more likely to give neutral-to-lightly-positive acknowledgement in other ways, like 🫡or ✅ or 🥰 or 💯. 👍 is reserved by some for lower enthusiasm or even a restrained, mild annoyance.
That was pretty fucking funny
👍
The chat built into my hospital’s charting software has the ‘thumbs up’ react so you can quickly and easily show that you’ve read it. So for me it just means ‘heard’, ‘roger’, etc.
Depends on context. Most of the time it’s just a confirmation. You are reading your insecurities into it.
If I want to make it sarcastic I like 👍👁️👄👁️👍
In a professional setting, it’s been a normalised acknowledgement, but socially I try to avoid it. Depending on the generation it can be taken the wrong way.
If it’s coming from my older coworkers, I know it’s meant well. They approve of whatever was discussed and are too busy to type out more, or its unnecessary.
If it’s coming from my gen z boyfriend, I have pissed him off.
no definitely not. but that’s probably because i don’t associate with people who think im a piece of shit
Whether a thumbs-up emoji is a good response really depends on the situation.
If it’s a quick ‘yes’ or ‘okay’ to a simple question, it’s fine. But if someone’s asking for your opinion or needs more details, it can seem like you’re not putting in much effort.
Also, how well you know the person matters a lot. You might use it with a close friend. In contrast someone you don’t know well, it can be considered rude.
Whatever you say you fucking dumbass 👍
Really just depends on the context but generally it isn’t what you think it means and it’s simply your personal interpretation. You have to assume people are well intentioned or you start having trust issues. Most people don’t see themselves as the asshole and I guarantee you do shit that pisses other people off even if you mean well.
It really depends on the age of the sender.
30s and younger: Fairly dismissive response. Not outright insulting but pretty rude.
40s and older: genuinely meant as an earnest acknowledgement of your message.
