this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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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!!!

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[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 38 points 5 days ago

It’s a pretty simple β€œacknowledged” to me. It’s a β€œI’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: πŸ‘πŸ™„

[–] yuri@pawb.social 23 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

in response to plans?

chill.

in response to something like a political opinion?

highly sarcastic.

[–] troglodytis@lemmy.world 47 points 6 days ago (3 children)
[–] Flamangoman@leminal.space 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Don't even get me started on this one

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[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 18 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I give a πŸ‘ on a reaction message all the time cause I'm too lazy to respond to it using words

[–] pipes@sh.itjust.works 12 points 6 days ago

Why waste word when πŸ‘ do trick?

[–] menemen@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 days ago

Reacting with "I agree" instead of πŸ‘ in the reaction field can completely disrupt a conversation.

[–] Jehuty@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

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.

[–] Nerrad@lemmy.world 21 points 6 days ago (2 children)

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."

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[–] Reil@beehaw.org 25 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

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 ofπŸ‘reactions mixed in with some πŸ• and πŸ•Ί

That's normal and people agreeing with you.

"Hey could you pick up some toilet paper on the way home?"

πŸ‘ 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."

"πŸ‘"

That's rude and dismissive, and not just an acknowledgement text.

[–] Goretantath@lemm.ee 14 points 6 days ago

Aka context matters, like all forms of english communication.

[–] DreasNil@feddit.nu 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Reil@beehaw.org 4 points 6 days ago

It's a little bit of a generational/cultural gap, I think! Like how Ok. and Ok... 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-punctuation kk or ok.

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 βœ… or πŸ₯° or πŸ’―. πŸ‘ is reserved by some for lower enthusiasm or even a restrained, mild annoyance.

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[–] qaz@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago
[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 11 points 5 days ago
[–] astutemural@midwest.social 13 points 6 days ago

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.

[–] JigglySackles@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

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 πŸ‘πŸ‘οΈπŸ‘„πŸ‘οΈπŸ‘

[–] Arfman@aussie.zone 11 points 5 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago

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.

[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 5 days ago

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

[–] Silv3rShi3ld@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago

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.

[–] Bruhh@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago

Whatever you say you fucking dumbass πŸ‘

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.

[–] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 week ago (6 children)

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?

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[–] Irelephant@lemm.ee 7 points 5 days ago

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

[–] razen@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

No πŸ‘

[–] JOMusic@lemmy.ml 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

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

[–] DreasNil@feddit.nu 11 points 6 days ago (4 children)

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.

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[–] Rin@lemm.ee 4 points 5 days ago

I found it rude but not anymore and I have to really think about it. On facebook messenger, the default emoji is πŸ‘ 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.

[–] mx_smith@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

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

[–] tobiah@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Reference to an old American television show where the "cool" character used to make the thumbs up gesture.

[–] zerofk@lemm.ee 4 points 5 days ago

Don’t touch the leather.

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[–] Goretantath@lemm.ee 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

πŸ‘πŸ»(deragatory) /s

[–] crypto@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 days ago

πŸ–•πŸ» (respectfully) /s

[–] BreathlessPuppy@lemm.ee 5 points 5 days ago
[–] Darleys_Brew@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Depends on context for me.

[–] LanguageIsCool@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago
[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 7 points 6 days ago

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 πŸ‘ 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...)

Personally i do. Same as the πŸ˜‰ 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'm with you but it's a generational thing. Are you a millennial?

[–] Tungsten5@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago

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

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