“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.

The smiley face, heart, praying hands and other “emoji” have become the way millions playfully punctuate their texts, Internet posts and messages.

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.

For millennials and the older generations, a smiley face is just a way of expressing happiness, but it can have a very different meaning for Gen Z. Instead of being a genuine smile, Gen Z take ...

One recent afternoon at lunchtime, Margaret Ingraham was standing on the sidewalk in DeWitt waving her bright yellow “Smiley Face” sign when a man approached her.

Be the first to comment. 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.

You use emojis in everyday messages for fun, but they might mean even more. We spoke to a psychologist about emoji use, and you might be surprised at what a smiley face can do.

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 ...

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.