Thumbs up is such a common emoji but almost nobody gives IRL thumbs up anymore.

I fully expect what the first reply to this might be.

58 points · 67 comments · view on lemmy.world

67 Comments

bizzle@lemmy.world · 77 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Everyone i know gives thumbs up

navi@lemmy.tespia.org · 13 pts · 1y

👍 same

mp3@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 1y

Same, even my young kids if I ask them a yes/no question while they're eating to avoid talking with their mouth full.

TheImpressiveX@lemm.ee · 39 pts · 1y

originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com · 30 pts · 1y

i use it a lot.. when im on the phone and someone pops in asking question only needing a positive response.

Diddlydee@feddit.uk · 28 pts · 1y

Wildly untrue. I see thumbs up every day.

CorrodedCranium@leminal.space · 28 pts · 1y (2 replies)

I feel like this is a you thing. I bet if you started doing it around people others would start doing it without realizing.

paulzy@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y (1 reply)

That might be true, or something local. I posted that this morning then got too busy to check in. I probably should have made it less about “positive/negative” and more about “it’s cool vs not cool” Here is my way too late OP explanation:

I go to a lot of sports events, hockey mostly. Since the 90s my friends and I play a little game. Count the people who give a #1 finger on the jumbotron vs point at their jersey vs thumbs up. Collectively, we have decided that ”kids today” don’t use thumbs up as much as in the past. I also noticed “Let’s go!” Is the cheer these days.

Sorry for oversimplifying my shower thought.

CorrodedCranium@leminal.space · 2 pts · 1y

All good. I made a similar extrapolation the other day about pudding not seeming as popular because I wasn't seeing people eating it or it advertised but after voicing my thoughts to a coworker I realized I'm probably just not anywhere near the target market. I'm not a sugar crazed child watching children's TV networks and nor do I have kids myself.

DannyBoy@sh.itjust.works · 23 pts · 1y

But people do. I use it all the time.

EtzBetz@feddit.org · 17 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I really do regularly

intensely_human@lemm.ee · 0 pts · 1y

So do I

kubok@fedia.io · 15 pts · 1y (1 reply)

OP, where do you live? I get thumbs up all the time. Sometimes as a greeting, sometimes as an encouragement (e.g. during a run), sometimes even as a means of communication in traffic.

paulzy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

Western Canada. I was thinking maybe it’s like a soda vs pop thing. Or just wildly isolated to my own experience. Just showerthinking.

ElPussyKangaroo@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 1y

👍🏼

BenLeMan@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 1y

(sorry, not the first)

HasturInYellow@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I use it IRL and have used the emoji I think once. So egg on your face, you fucking rube! You've never been more wrong bucko!

Lairo@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 1y

👍

Majorllama@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 1y

I give thumbs up all the time. Usually two of them at the same time with a forced smile to let people know I wanna turn into oncoming traffic every day.

DragonsInARoom@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 1y

I do

slazer2au@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I'm more of a finger guns kinda guy.

ShepherdPie@midwest.social · 2 pts · 1y

A real straight shooter.

JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee · 8 pts · 1y

That's very anecdotal, do you know any studies that investigate thumbs up prevalence IRL and online?

TokenEffort@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 1y

The deaf guys at my warehouse exist lol

I should get better at ASL

Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y

My kid uses it very liberally.

Kolanaki@yiffit.net · 6 pts · 1y (5 replies)

Do finger guns count as a thumbs up? My thumbs are up when I do them.

Zorque@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y (3 replies)

That depends, is it a revolver or a semi-auto?

HikingVet@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Double action revolvers are semi auto.

Some mag fed pistols have external hammers.

Zorque@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Honestly, I know fuck-all about guns. I just thought I'd make a funny 😓

HikingVet@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 1y

Good effort.

MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

WOAH why are you pointing cocked finger guns at people? That's dangerous.

abbadon420@lemm.ee · 5 pts · 1y (4 replies)

Yeah I do, I just use the wrong thumb most times.

Diddlydee@feddit.uk · 5 pts · 1y (3 replies)

Is there a wrong thumb?

abbadon420@lemm.ee · 5 pts · 1y (2 replies)

🖕

ekZepp@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Pretty sure that's not a thumb. 🤣

abbadon420@lemm.ee · 2 pts · 1y

It's my emotional support thumb

rljkeimig@lemm.ee · 5 pts · 1y

I do it constantly, also the 🤙 and the shocker depending on the vibes.

figjam@midwest.social · 4 pts · 1y

I give a thumbs up to tell my scuba buddy that its time to ascend

spankmonkey@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y

I used it three times this morning at the dentist because I couldn't talk. Also use it regularly at work to convey agreement. See others use it fairly often too.

ekZepp@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y

I'm still using it as an "I got it" hand gesture; if i'm in the middle of some work and someone approaches me to tell me something while i'm busy.

burgersc12@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Guess this should be on unpopular opinion since everyone in the comments is disputing OP

paulzy@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Unpopular opinions are one of my specialties.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1y

What about fighting Sith lords?

otacon239@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

With my boss, I flip randomly from 👍 to 👌 to 🖕

TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Lots of things have suffered the same fate. Just think of LOL, 😂, or 🤣 for example.

crimsonpoodle@pawb.social · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

People still laugh

TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 1y

Yes they do, but the text response doesn’t really reflect the actual one.

fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 0 pts · 1y (5 replies)

I love using thumbs up ironically. Like is someone trying to ask for an explanation to why i don't sit down to shit? 👍

MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (4 replies)

That's not an example of irony though?

fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 1y (3 replies)

*I love using thumbs up in a way that invokes absurdist situational irony by laying out an absurd situation that the other person expects an explanation for, but instead receives a friendly affirmation in the form of the thumbs up emoji, which exemplifies situational irony by subverting the other person's expectations of what the situation is actually about.

MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Still not irony, are you American by any chance?

fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 1y (1 reply)

?? I don't really understand what your goal is here

MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

Americans tend to have poor understandings of what constitutes irony.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I use it on Teams

Agent641@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

I use it on Skype. Not just video, but in chat as well

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · -11 pts · 1y (11 replies)

The thumbs up emoji is hated now and viewed as passive aggressive compliance.

So, I definitely thumbs up more often IRL.

Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 1y

Maybe where you live, but not for me. Thumbs up emoji just means okay / will do / message received, in Colorado at least

ElPussyKangaroo@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Is it tho?

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · -3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

This is what my wife and kids have told me. 🤷🏻‍♂️

ElPussyKangaroo@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

I see.

Bougie_Birdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 6 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I use a thumbs up reaction as "I acknowledge I've read and understood this, but don't think you require a push notification" so I guess your mileage may vary

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 1y

That's what I thought too, but I was told that's no longer the case.

HikingVet@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 1y (2 replies)

What hare brained social group do you participate in?

spankmonkey@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

👍

pigeonholedpoetry@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 1y

It’s definitely the way my ex wife uses it. So it just has a negative connotation to it for me.