Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Jul 23, 2026

Sorry, but if you use these 10 emoji you're officially old

Sorry, but if you use these 10 emoji you're officially old

The Gen Z versus millennials versus boomers war rages on, and today, the ammo is emoji use.

If you’ve been on TikTok or Twitter, you’ll already know that using the crying laughing emoji is an immediate signifier that you are old (meaning over the age of 20) and out of touch.

But this is not the only emoji that has been thrown into the wastebin to gather dust.

A poll of 2,000 16 to 24-year-olds has revealed that there are in fact ten emoji that define you as utterly decrepit, including the thumbs up, the red heart, and the ‘ok’ hand.

The survey, from research and insight agency Perspectus Global, declares that these emoji are not just old-fashioned, but cringeworthy.

We’re so sorry.

The ten emojis that only 'old' people use


1. Thumbs up 👍
2. Red heart ❤️
3. Ok hand 👌
4. Check mark ✔️
5. Poo -💩
6. Loudly Crying Face 😭
7. Monkey eye cover 🙈
8. Clappy hands 👏
9. Kiss mark 💋
10. Grimacing Face😬

Despite being relegated to the scrapheap of oldness, the laughing crying emoji remains the most popular emoji across all ages, perhaps because those over the age of 24 outnumber the youths.

The least popular emoji across all demographics was the skull and crossbones.

The survey also found that many people – 78% of Brits – have incorrectly used an emoji, often on repeated occasions, before finding out its true, likely ruder meaning. Think the aubergine emoji.

Evie Porter of Perspectus Global said: ‘With the average Briton sending 76 emojis a week, across multiple platforms, it’s clear that these symbols are now a vital part of our daily communication – on both a personal and professional level.

‘Yet this research indicates the importance of assessing which ones you use. Unless you want to be seen as old fashioned, it seems wise to avoid the thumbs up symbol.’

That’s us told. Maybe we can just stick to using our words.

Alternatively, stop caring about what young people think of how socially relevant you are. True coolness comes from within.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
US Gasoline Returns to $4 as Renewed Iran Fighting Disrupts Oil Flows
Czech Central Bank Governor Rejects Early Euro Entry and Rate-Cut Pressure
Trump Orders 50% Tariffs on Selected Canadian Imports
Pentagon Discloses Nearly 100 US Troop Injuries During Renewed Iran Fighting
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
EU Imposes Record €550 Million Digital Services Fine on AliExpress
London’s Housing Starts Collapse as Planning and Building Costs Stall Development
Charlie Sheen’s Daughter: "My Dad Didn’t Buy Me a House, My Breasts Bought It"
Vivienne Westwood Casts Cicciolina, 74, in Its New Autumn Campaign
Dejavu: Germany’s Military Expansion Reshapes Europe’s Strategic Balance With France
Naturally Conceived Identical Quadruplets Born in Rare Brisbane Delivery
Tate Brothers Fight British Extradition Bid After Miami Arrests
Burnham Reshapes Britain’s Government Around Living Costs, Devolution and Security
Jingye Demands Full Compensation After Britain illegally Nationalized British Steel
Just Another Liar or a Robin Hood? Andy Burnham Pledges Cost-of-Living Help in First Speech as UK Prime Minister
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Brilliant move: Péter Magyar Moves to Nominate Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár as Hungary’s President
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Police Block Cockroach Janta Party’s March to Parliament as Education Protests Intensify
Current AI Seeks to Build an Open Global AI Infrastructure Outside Big Tech Control
Turkey Explores S-400 Transfer to UAE in Bid to Rejoin F-35 Program
Germany’s Economic Malaise Reopens the Sunday Shopping Debate
Singapore Considers Lower Taxes for Fund Managers as Hong Kong Intensifies Talent Contest
US Retaliates Against Iran After Two American Troops Killed in Jordan
Bank of Asia BVI Enters Court-Supervised Liquidation After Regulators Find It Insolvent
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Netherlands Declares Water Shortage Emergency After Drought Pushes Rivers to Historic Lows
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Iran Claims It Destroyed Bahrain’s Main Artificial Intelligence Center in Missile and Drone Strike
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate Who Turned "Toxic Masculinity" Into a Brand Arrested in Miami as Britain Seeks Their Extradition
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
Gold and Cash Seizure Puts Indonesia’s Senior Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Under Investigation
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
Ukrainian Drone Barrage Kills Eight and Strikes Russian Logistics Network
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
The Monaco Bombing Has Become a Test of Ukraine’s Intelligence Accountability
Leadership Change and Strategic Rivalry Redraw the Political Map
Energy Risk, Uneven Growth and the New Geography of Global Capital
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
For 36 Years, He Scammed About 300 Luxury Hotels — Until He Was Caught
×