“The upside down smiley face one is definitely confusing because that could mean anything,” said St. Francis College student Sabrina Tayeh, 18, of Brooklyn Heights.

To Gen Z, that classic smiley face emoji isn’t all sunshine — it’s more of a smug, side-eye smirk that can come off as passive-aggressive in texts like above. “Emoji use may be related to ...

The smiley face emoji is no longer being perceived as joyful. The generation born between 1997 and 2012 finds it to be anything but positive. Yup, that's right.

A woman with a puppy in her lap and wearing a shirt with smiley face emojis on it cashed a fraudulent check in January. Now, detectives are hoping bank surveillance video will help lead to her arrest.

Of course the smiley face wasn’t always just an emoji. It actually has a steeper history that’s older than any Gen Z. According to The Guardian, the smiley face was invented in 1963 “as a ...

A smiley face isn’t always just a smiley face. Behind the yellow, wide-eyed emoji’s grin lurks an intergenerational minefield. The ubiquitous emoji means happy, good job or any number of other ...

Gen Z's interpretation of the smiley face emoji isn't new, although it's making headlines again. In 2021, the Wall Street Journal ran a whole piece on it and included insight from Gen Z.