Should you change your emoji skin color?įor a long time, everyone got one set of emojis to choose from, the standard yellow hands and faces, but in 2015 different skin tones for emojis were rolled out. All of these come across in text as short, dry, and dismissive and feel like the visual representation of someone half-heartedly saying, “Cool” with a shrug. Or, God forbid, ending your text with a period. That’s just not the consensus of me, my friends, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Lisa Barlow and Heather Gay - an emoji expert (new dream job) told The Daily Mail, “People from younger generations are trying to avoid the thumbs-up emoji as they see it as passive-aggressive and a low-effort response.” Having been on the receiving end of many a thumbs-up text, the reason it feels like such a slap in the face is that it’s basically on par with a “K” text. This one would probably come as a shock to all the dads who basically only communicate with the thumbs-up emoji, but sending this icon - especially as a response to positive news - has the impact of sending the middle finger. So before you go sending a thumbs-up reaction to something that sounds good, read on, because here are some unspoken rules of emoji etiquette. (If you ever sent LOL thinking it meant “lots of love,” you probably know all too well the pitfalls of misreading online shorthand.) When it comes to these tiny faces, there’s a whole slew of emoji faux pas out there that you might unknowingly be making, some more serious than others. Even emojis, those little icons that were invented to make it easier to digitally communicate emotions, can be deceptively difficult to decode - and create a whole host of problems if you’re using them wrong. (Kidding, but inquiring minds want to know!) Text messages can notoriously cause miscommunications since you can’t always interpret tone through the written word. Or, is “reacting” to an iMessage a conversation killer? Philosophers have spent centuries debating these age-old quandaries but have come to little solution. Want to start a fiery debate? Open up your group chat and ask if keeping your read receipts on, so recipients can see if you’ve opened their text, is rude.