Key points
- The crying emoji became the world’s most popular symbol in 2025 – it surpassed the laughing‑crying smiley and the red heart, which had led for years.
- Data were collected by Google from 665 million Gboard keyboards worldwide.
- Teenagers massively use this emoji as a reaction to something too funny, emotional or awkward.
- Linguists explain the shift by saying that youth find previous popular symbols too overused.
- Instead of the laughing‑crying smiley, youth increasingly choose the skull, meaning “die laughing,” and call the thumbs‑up “boomer emoji.”
In 2025 the crying emoji – 😭 – became the most popular worldwide, surpassing the laughing‑crying smiley – 😂 – and the red heart – ❤️. The New York Times writes about it.
According to Google data gathered from 665 million Gboard keyboards worldwide, teenagers have made the crying emoji a universal symbol. They use it massively as a reaction to something so funny, emotional or awkward that one almost wants to cry.
Linguists explain this by saying that the younger generation finds previous popular emojis too overused.
Language changes on the internet are largely driven by teenage girls. Older people continue to actively use the laughing‑crying smiley and the heart, while youth prefer other symbols.
For a joke reaction, instead of the laughing‑crying smiley, teenagers often use the skull – 💀 – meaning “die laughing.” The usual thumbs‑up – 👍🏻 – is called the “boomer emoji” and is used only sarcastically.
Other trends include the rapid rise in popularity of the wilted rose – 🥀 – which replaces the broken heart – 💔 and, thanks to TikTok, symbolizes exhaustion. Youth also actively use the Moai statue – 🗿 to show a deadpan reaction or raised eyebrows.
Despite the change in leader, the top ten most popular emojis worldwide remain relatively stable – they account for 36% of all sent symbols. Meanwhile, some youth are moving away from emojis in favor of stickers that allow communication in local meme language.
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