Do Your Emojis Make You Look Old?

Generations Z and Alpha, millennials, and boomers all have vastly different preferences when it comes to using emojis. An emoji that’s popular among teenagers might mean little to nothing to someone who’s at retirement age, and vice versa. There’s no wrong way to use emojis, but certain images could expose you as a member of a specific generation. A recent New York Times article took a deep dive into the topic, examining data compiled by Google coupled with informal anecdotal data sourced from Reddit, a popular network of online message boards. Based on the findings, here are some emojis that may reveal a texter’s true age.

According to Google’s data, the most widely used emoji in 2025 was 😭, surpassing the similar 🤣 and 😂 crying emojis that were previously more popular. Texters use the 😭 emoji to convey a variety of emotions, ranging from literal sadness to tears of joy and in some cases weeping because something is oh-so-cute. But Google’s emoji usage statistics aren’t broken down by demographics, so to get a better idea of how emoji use differs by age, the Times examined various subreddits — Reddit message boards that are dedicated to specific topics, or in this case, age groups.

The most commonly used emoji on the r/teenagers subreddit was indeed the 😭 emoji, suggesting that teens are behind its surge in popularity. If you head over to the r/GenX subreddit, you won’t see the 😭 emoji nearly as often. Instead, 😂 is the most-used crying emoji. The inference is that if you use 😭 you might be a teenager, while if you use 😂 you’re more likely to have been born between 1965 and 1980. It’s not a precise science, but it gives us a glimpse at the larger picture.

Our mostly millennial editorial team threw out another alternative to the 😂 emoji. We’re partial to “lol” tacked on to the end of a sentence instead of a period, signifying a lighthearted tone or humor. 

In general, younger people tend to be less literal and more fanciful with their emoji use, whereas older people tend to be the opposite. For instance, younger generations typically use 🔥 or 🙏 to communicate approval of something. Older generations, meanwhile, more often rely on 💯 or 👍. It may seem odd to think that a universally understood symbol like a thumbs up could expose you as an older person, but that’s just how modern emojis work.

You may also reveal your age if you’re confused by the meaning behind the fast-rising emojis being made popular by Generation Alpha (those born between 2010 and 2024). A recent TikTok trend led to a massive rise in use of the 🥀 emoji to signify sadness or heartbreak (like you’re wilting from the intensity of your emotions), replacing the 💔 more often used by older generations. Gen Alpha also uses the 🗿 emoji (a moai, referencing the statues of Easter Island) to indicate a deadpan response, and the 🫰 emoji (a finger heart that comes from the Korean pop music scene) to convey affection. If these emojis go over your head, you’re probably from an older generation.

The good news is, emojis are a way to express yourself over text creatively, and there are no hard-and-fast rules. But if you stick to basic emojis such as 😀 to convey happiness, ❤️ to express love, or 👍 to suggest satisfaction, those literal uses might expose you as being of an older generation. Before you try to adopt younger emoji signals, though, we should warn you: By the time you get used to using 😭, the youths will already be on to the next hot trend.