For years, it was the undisputed king of digital communication. The "Face with Tears of Joy" emoji (😂) was the universal symbol for laughter, amusement, and finding something genuinely funny. In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries even named it the "Word of the Year," cementing its status as the most heavily used pictograph in human history.
But in the fast-paced, highly cyclical world of internet culture, nothing stays cool forever. Over the past few years, the "Tears of Joy" emoji has suffered a steep decline in prestige, particularly among Generation Z. It has been dethroned, not by another smiling face, but by the Skull (💀) and the Loudly Crying Face (😭).
Why did the world’s most popular emoji become a symbol of boomer cringe? And what does the rise of the skull tell us about the evolution of digital communication?
The Life Cycle of Internet Slang
The death of the 😂 emoji perfectly illustrates the typical life cycle of internet slang.
When a new slang term or symbol emerges, it is usually adopted by a subculture (often young people, frequently Black or queer internet communities). It is used genuinely and carries a specific cultural cachet.
As the term becomes popular, it spreads to the broader internet. This is the peak of its usage. However, as it reaches mass adoption, it inevitably leaks into demographics that the original creators consider "uncool"—parents, corporations, and politicians.
Once your mom uses "lit" in a text about a sale at Target, or a fast-food brand tweets the 😂 emoji about a hamburger, the term loses its subversive edge. It becomes bloated, meaningless, and deeply uncool to the younger generation who originated or popularized it. They abandon it and find a replacement.
The Problem with 😂
The "Face with Tears of Joy" emoji suffered from its own success. It became the default reaction to everything.
People used it when they were genuinely laughing out loud. People used it to soften a passive-aggressive text. People used it to express mild amusement. Because it meant everything, it eventually meant nothing.
For Generation Z, who value irony, hyperbole, and nuanced emotional expression in text, 😂 felt deeply inadequate. It lacked the necessary dramatic flair to convey true amusement, and worse, it reeked of an older generation trying too hard to participate in digital culture. Using 😂 became the digital equivalent of saying "That's a real knee-slapper!"
The Rise of 💀 and 😭
Nature abhors a vacuum, and digital communication requires a way to signal laughter. Enter the Skull (💀) and the Loudly Crying Face (😭).
- The Skull (💀): This evolved from the slang phrase "I'm dead" or "This is killing me," referring to something being so funny that the user has metaphorically expired from laughter. It is hyperbolic, dark, and perfectly aligns with the somewhat nihilistic, absurdist humor of Gen Z.
- The Loudly Crying Face (😭): In a brilliant subversion of the emoji's intended purpose (extreme sadness), younger users adopted the sobbing face to express extreme joy, overwhelming cuteness, or hysterical laughter. It conveys a level of emotional devastation—the joke was so funny that it broke the user.
Both of these replacements rely on hyperbole. A simple smile or a single tear isn't enough; the user must be dead, or sobbing hysterically.
The Nuance of Punctuation
The shift in emoji usage also highlights how emojis have become complex punctuation marks, capable of altering the entire tone of a sentence.
Consider the difference between these three texts: 1. "I tripped and spilled my coffee 😂" 2. "I tripped and spilled my coffee 💀" 3. "I tripped and spilled my coffee 😭"
The first feels a bit forced, like a polite chuckle to assure the reader the sender is fine. The second implies absolute mortification, framing the event as a hilarious disaster. The third implies an almost overwhelming emotional response to the minor tragedy.
What Comes Next?
If the rules of internet slang hold true, the Skull and the Crying Face will eventually meet the same fate as Tears of Joy. As they achieve mass adoption, their ironic edge will dull, and the next generation will find a new, inexplicable way to signal amusement.
Perhaps it will be a completely unrelated object, or a return to pure text-based emoticons (like shifting from lol to asdfghjkl). Until then, if you want to signal that you are "in the know" and genuinely find something hilarious, lay the 😂 to rest. The joke is dead. 💀