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 "

👍

👎

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.

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

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?

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: 👍🙄

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.

👍

👍

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.

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.

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

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.

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 👍

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