So, for now, Gen Z, don't take your older colleagues' emojis too seriously. And for new joiners the world of work can be cold and confusing, so anything that can more warmth or texture can only be a good thing, right? Modern work forces us to do much of our communication through text.

But bringing a little more emotion and empathy to our communications in the office is no bad thing. But then, they were emoticons - textual depictions of one's mood.Īs Gen Zer's use of emoticons in the early 2000s evolved into more expressive emojis in the 2010s, it's no surprise the digital natives have a firm but nuanced grasp on the emoji language.Īnd although to Gen Z, the emojis they use don't always mean exactly what the picture depicts, it can be challenging to explain to older colleagues that the crying emoji doesn't indicate sadness but dying of laughter and that the crying laughing face is cringy.

Gen Zers may have a more expansive emoji vocabulary because emojis have been integral to text messages and social media communication since the oldest Gen Zers got their first flip phone. This disconnect can pose a problem if both parties need to be made aware of the nuance behind emojis, which explains why some people choose to limit or cease their use.

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