3 Ways Millennials End Text Messages That Immediately Give Away Their Age
There are three common methods millennials use to end text messages, and they're all very similar.
insta_photos | Shutterstock Each generation has its own unique characteristics and traits that it can claim as its own. For example, millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, are known for adapting to major technological changes, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. One thing that started with their generation that previous generations did not grow up with is texting. Millennials have brought their own special signature to texting, just like they have with every other aspect of life.
UGC creator Josh Hublitz shared three different ways to end text messages that he thinks are distinctly millennial. Hublitz said that someone can immediately tell if you’re a millennial if you use one or more of these.
Here are three ways millennials end text messages that immediately give away their age:
1. ‘lol’
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Hublitz dubbed this “the courtesy response.” He noted that it’s typically not used when someone is in the actual act of laughing out loud, but rather “because you don’t want to come off aggressive, you don’t want to come off awkward, and you don’t know what else to say.” Basically, it’s a way to take the edge off. “It lets them know that you’re acknowledging them and whatever it is that they sent is not a total waste of your time,” he added.
HuffPost contributor Brittany Wong wrote about why “lol” is used so frequently, even calling it “a punctuation mark for millennials.” She spoke to UCLA linguistics lecturer Daria Bahtina, who said, “For millennials, it’s a way to either make a neutral message warmer and more casual or a way to make a more negative message polite. It’s like hedging or minimizing a request with ‘no biggie if you disagree.’”
For millennials, “lol” is a safety net, a security blanket. It’s a way to soften the blow of any message without making the message totally unserious. Well, they don’t think it’s unserious, at least.
2. ‘Haha’
“Haha” is admittedly “similar to ‘lol,’” Hublitz said. However, it “doesn’t have quite as much meaning behind it.” He continued, “You know, you’re still there with them, but also it kind of lets them know, ‘Yeah, we could leave it wherever we just left it with that part of the discussion.’” Saying “haha” allows you to end things on a high note and sends the message that you understood whatever was being said. “We’ve acknowledged it; wrap it in a nice little bow, move on,” he said.
In the piece Wong wrote, she acknowledged that “haha” can almost always be used in place of “lol.” In fact, Pittsburgh millennial Alex Liggett told her, “I’ve transitioned to ‘haha’ instead of ‘lol’ because I read that ‘lol’ is millennial-coded.” It seems that millennials are very self-aware and attentive to the fact that “lol” pops up frequently in their text messages, and it might be time for a replacement. “Haha” is the perfect option for that.
Saying “haha” lets whoever you’re talking to know that you’re still fun and friendly while allowing a millennial to get away with saying some very serious things. Adding a simple “haha” to the end makes it easier to digest, just like “lol” does.
3. Laughing emoji
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It turns out that the laughing emoji is no laughing matter. “The implications behind the laughing emoji are serious,” Hublitz said, “because you might actually be laughing, but also you might really not be laughing at all.” A laughing emoji is a step up from a “haha” and can indicate it’s time to slow down. “You might want them to stop that train of thought. It’s even more of an effort than a 'haha' to, like, shut it down,” he explained.
CNN Business’s Kaya Yurieff wrote about the fact that the laughing emoji as we know it just “isn’t cool anymore.” According to her, this is because younger generations like Gen Z use alternative options to express that they find something funny because they view the laughing emoji as something older people use. While millennials certainly aren’t old, they may seem that way to younger generations.
Whether the laughing emoji is considered cool or not, millennials just keep on using it. And it follows their general pattern of laughing along with whatever is said to lessen any tension and get to the point quickly.
The three methods millennials use to end text messages are quite similar.
“Lol,” “haha,” and the laughing emoji are all so similar that they could pretty much be used interchangeably. By using these three text enders, millennials seem to be sending the message that they want to keep things open and friendly, even when the tone might turn serious.
Are they showing their age by using these send-offs? Sure. The real question is, do they care?!
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
