Do you interpret a 👍 as a rude reply?

This is literally my "message received" emote.

If people thought it was rude, I'd be fired by now.

It depends on what it's in response to.

Dinner at 6 at Greasy Spoon?
👍 

Entirely reasonable.

Should we do the project in COBOL?
👍 

Entirely unreasonable, but not rude.

My cat just died.
👍 

Rude.

No. Your reading of it is unusual, in most contexts. It almost always means "agreement, and I have nothing of substance to add".

It can be rude if the thing you've said should warrant a substantial response. Like if you wrote "my brother just died in a car wreck", a thumbs up (or probably any emoji) would be an inappropriate response. Heavier stuff warrants whole words.

But if it's like "Can you get cat food at the store? The kind we always get" then a thumbs up is an acceptable shorthand for "yes, I understand and commit to this request "

Nope, because I use it myself. But I don't use it as a conversational tool though. I just use it as confirmation that I received and read what you sent but it isn't necessary to continue the conversation. For example, I'm already in a conversation with someone and the assumption is I need them to send me a file. When they finally send it over, I just react with a thumbs up to confirm I got it. Context is important. The emoji is only as meaningful as the context of the conversation it is in.

👍

👎

Yeah that sounds like a you problem. Most people use it to just mean "ok." But I mean, if you said "mom just died 😭" and you get "👍" as a reply, that one's probably rude.

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.

I use the 👍react to show that I've seen the message but don't need to respond. Usually in the case of someone sending a money transfer or something like that.

If I react to a message with a 👍 it's innocuous, but if I reply to a message 👍 it's actually me being passive aggressive like I can't be bothered to type a real response

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.

No, you need therapy

in response to plans?

chill.

in response to something like a political opinion?

highly sarcastic.

Whatever you say you fucking dumbass 👍

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."

Never in the history of me sending thumb responses in work chats has it ever meant “whatever you say you fucking dumbass.”

It's primarily used to show acknowledgement. It's the office worker equivalent of "10-4."

Seems like you have some pretty serious projection issues to work out OP lol

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: 👍🙄

Depending on the context, it is can be used sarcastically, which may be rude. But I've used this even in semi-formal settings.

I have to ask, are people these days that easily offended?

I don’t, and I use it all the time. That said, I try to be mindful of context. For example, if I’m going to a party and someone texts saying to grab ice or something: 👍

Conversely, if someone is texting to say their dog died, or congratularions of a big achievement: !👍

It's possible you have dealt with more than your fair share of sarcastic passive aggressive people in your life so far. Most people give a 👍🏼 as a confirmation, like "OK". Its especially common when someone is bust, like if they're driving or in a meeting, or trying to think.

Not … really ? Don't think I ever seen it used in ways that could be read that way , not sure wy some one would use it like that either

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.

👍

👍

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.

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.

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.

No. Thumbs up means that I agree with you. I know that the younger generation has started interpreting a thumbs up as something negative though, which just blows my mind.

I've read that Gen z doesn't like this as a response. I think it's just ok

Depends on context but mainly it just means 'Okay!' or 'Go ahead!'

I suppose it depends what I sent them to prompt the reply? "Dinner at 6?" followed by 👍 is fine. "My grandpop is dying, he may not make it through the week" -> 👍 would send me right off.

no definitely not. but that's probably because i don't associate with people who think im a piece of shit

No 👍

It depens on the context. I use 👍 in my work to show that I get the messages my superiors sent me.

Like ‘OK’ it depends on context, and irony can be hard to discern online.

I'm going to say it's not a "you" problem, but a "who you're surrounded by" problem. Is this something you're used to percieving accurately? Do you have friends or family who would actually mean it rudely? Because, as others have mentioned, I simply would not be able to function at work if I interpreted 👍 as rude/sarcastic.

I have to assume you're young or your work doesn't involve communicating with coworkers or clients over text. I'd also be curious if you look back at this post 5-10 years from now and think "wtf was I on about?" (I'd also be curious if civilization still exists 5-10 years from now, but I digress...)

Depends on where you put the thumb I guess.

👍🏻(deragatory) /s

👍

Not really, maybe passive agressive at times, but I always see it as casual agreement.

It depends on context and conversation. I get 👍 replies to my comments at work which 80% of the time means whatever I'm about to break in the code base nobody is currently working on.

Initially I did yeah, but eventually learned that different people use it differently. So good practice to never assume sarcasm through emojis unless you know the person well

No, I see it as friendly, but I receive them from my friends. I think if you have a doubt in the relationship already you are more likely to interpret any short reply as rude than if you are confident in what your relationship means to them.

Nope. When I make plans with people, it usually ends with one of us giving a 👍. I thought it meant "we're all on the same page".

No.

👎

👎

Yes, I actually do interpret it that way even though I'm pretty sure I've never received it with that intent. Then I think "why am I like this?" and wonder if this is part of getting old. This is actually much less of a joke than it probably sounds like.

It says we are all a bunch Fonzies here, and what is Fonzie?

Generally, I do not. But I’m sure there is a scenario where it is used as a rude way to terminate a conversation.

Depends on context - if it's a yes/no question or something that can be replied to with a simple "great" or "okay", thumbs up serves as a "yes" or as a gesture that the person has read the message and doesn't have any problems with it.

It might be considered rude though for more complex discussions, where you need to respond in sentences

👍🏼

In private messages outside of work, yes, it comes across passive aggressive and is a hard stop to a conversation. In work context though, it's pretty common on teams as an acknowledgement, though I still think it's nicer to use like a heart react then actually reply.

I basically use it as a way to acknowledge that I saw a message but have nothing further to ask or add.

yes 👍

Sometimes

It depends on the context and the person for me.

You see it as dismissive. Low effort reply, like they couldn't be bothered. It's not inviting continued conversation so you see it as someone telling you to stop talking to them.

If I were to guess. In your eyes. They might as well have replied with "cool story bro".

Which is now forever a sarcastic term and no one regardless of what you say, will believe that you actually found their story cool.

I used to but then at work everyone always uses the thumbs up on slack. So I got used to it. Nowadays it depends on the context of the convo

I'm with you but it's a generational thing. Are you a millennial?

Depends on context for me.

Personally i do. Same as the 😉 wink smiley... comes across as a bit of a cunt in my opinion.

Could be because there were shitty people that would use it in condescending ways at me.

I found it rude but not anymore and I have to really think about it. On facebook messenger, the default emoji is 👍 and during my stay on that platform (~2011-2017) it was regarded as a rude, low effort dismissal, at least inside my circles.

Nowadays, i double take and find that people don't indent to be rude to me. After all, i'm not on facebook anymore and these people weren't in my circle.

I'll reply with the all mighty answer:

It depends.

Depends on the people you are talking to I'd say.

Definitely is a rude reply. Zero effort and sarcastic.

I think depending on your generation and language you speak it can have different meanings.

Sounds like a you problem. An emoji is just that, context of usage defines it's meaning.

Nope, not at all.

I can respond with 👍 and if people don't like it then next time I probably wouldn't respond to there texts with anything at all. The thumbs up IS me putting in the extra effort to acknowledge & respond to received messages. Also, it was my avatar on my previous college online profile.

Just try to remember that there is almost always more than one way to interpret a body of text even if it's a single character.

Oh wow. I thought only I had an issue with this.

👎

For message received, I use the press and hold emoji reactions, "tapbacks" I think they're called.

For some reason I associate an actual "👍🏼" text as being less nice? Because now you took the time to open your keyboard and find the thumbs up. Like equivalent to texting "K." Lol

Just like a curt "yes" or even "yes sir" can be seen as somewhat rude in some contexts, so to can its emoji equivalent.

Depends on context but generally no. I use it myself to either agree with or acknowledge messages if I don't have anything to add. I don't see why you should interpret it as rude if the person you're speaking to, or people in general, have stated they don't intend it to be rude.

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.

I had this discussion with my wife a few weeks ago. She did that to a work colleague who took offense to it. I explained that that's because her colleague is about 8 years younger than us.

Basically, if the recipient is 35 and under, it's offensive. If they're 40 and older, it's not. Anywhere in between, look for context.

Most of the time, yes.

🆗

No big deal at all

I totally get you! Whenever I feel that it could be interpreted that way, I don't send the thumbs-up. I do use it though, but I try to be careful to avoid that misinterpretation.

It depend on the context/group.

At work, no biggie, it just tells me that you acknowledge my message and currently have nothing useful to add.

With my friends, who usually heavily rely on emojis and "oldtimey smileys" (like xD or y.y)? Ya, unless you completely eminate happiness and friendship, I'm concerned about your mood / standing with me.

Usually

nope but my lingo interpretation is way dated and by the time I uptake something its out of fashion.

It depends on the context

If I'm just looking for a confirmation that my message was received, and the plans need to additional modification, a thumbs up is sufficient.

If I ask something like "Wanna meet up at the bar after work today?" And get a thumbs up, that's sufficient. We know where we're going and when, no more discussion really needed.

If I ask "you free to grab a beer this weekend?" and I get a thumbs up, that's bullshit. When are you free to grab said beer? Where are we going for it? We have details that need to be hammered out.

Not rude at all.

Just make sure you don't use it, or fail to clarify and confirm the meaning of its use, in a business setting or you could be in some trouble.

The context will be more telling of if it's actually rude or not. There's a lot of chat software nowadays where you can "react" to a message with a thumbs up and people use it to acknowledge what was said.