Why is the thumbs-up emoji being canceled?

The thumbs-up emoji is in the crosshairs of Gen Z after kids voted the emoji the most likely to make its users seem old.

Wake up honey, the thumbs-up emoji has been canceled.

While typically canceling is for comedians who cross the line, or celebrities caught on a hot mic, this latest cancelation is not of a person, but of an emoji. Particularly, the thumbs-up emoji.

Although this emoji has been typically used for approval and has a positive connotation, according to Gen Z, the thumbs-up emoji should be done for.

Gen Z cancels thumbs-up emoji

A recent post on Reddit went massively viral which showed a poll taken amongst 2,000 kids within the Gen Z age range of 16-29.

In the poll, people said that the thumbs-up emoji was the most likely to make the user look ‘old,’ with 24% of votes.

Why NOBODY should be using the ‘thumbs up’ emoji in 2022 – and the 10 symbols only ‘old people’ use that have Gen Z rolling their eyes | You shouldn’t use it at work or else it can come off as "hurtful" according to an uncredited Redditor; list in comments from savedyouaclick

In second place was the red love heart, and third was the OK hand. One of the poll respondents claimed that using the thumbs-up is a “bit hostile.”

Despite the poll results, users in the comment section claim the data could be wrong. One user said, “As a Gen Z person, this article is actually just like, wrong? I use the thumbs up and down all the time. Nobody I know gives a damn about what emoji is being used beyond the actual meaning the emoji is meant to convey.”

They finished by adding, “I have never heard of any of these weird arbitrary standards, and I highly doubt anyone I know has either.”

As the war over the real meaning of the thumbs-up emoji rages on, there may just not be an end in sight.