I’m staring down the barrel of my 27th birthday. I’ve given up plucking grey hairs, two pints are enough to ruin my morning, and worst of all? The youth have invented a new emoji for laughing. Chat, am I… unc? 🧎👴🏼📉
I remember when older Gen Z violently dethroned the millennial 😂 in favour of the more nonchalant 💀. The laugh-cry emoji became a neon sign that you were out of touch. But the march of time is ruthless, especially online. Our Gen Z hubris is now being ratioed by younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who are quickly becoming the drivers of youth culture.
Enter the dolphin: 🐬
In the deepest, most chaotic trenches of internet culture, this majestic sea mammal has become a new symbol for laughing, putting 😂, 😭 and 💀 out of a job. The high-pitched, manic squeak of a dolphin captures the semi-sarcastic, unhinged reaction to whatever brainrot we’re scrolling through at 3am. e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e 🐬🐬🐬💅
Feel left out? That’s kind of the point.
The lifecycle of an emoji is rooted in one simple, timeless human desire: gatekeeping. 🫷
One of the fastest ways to feel like you belong is to know something other people don’t. We crave the smug satisfaction of being in on the joke while everyone else tries to catch up. It’s why hyper-niche lore thrives online, and where much of the joy of the 6-7 phenomenon (or, as my parents call it, “the six and seven thingy”) comes from.
The joke isn’t really the punchline. It’s being in on the joke.
⏩ The speed of reinvention is accelerating.
Youth culture has always invented new language to mark its identity and distinguish itself from whatever came before. But the speed at which the cycle is repeating itself is compressing : 😂 → 💀 took years. 💀 → 🐬 took about a year. 📆💨 Each time, we get less time to be in the in on the joke before the conversation moves on.
Brands are geared to be as responsive as possible on social media, and this drives the compression even faster. Let’s face it: brands are, by their corporate nature, irrevocably unc. 🚫🧢 The moment an organic, peer-to-peer joke is adopted and sanitised for corporate gain, the irrepressibly creative youth then migrate to something weirder and more abstract to reclaim their territory.
The wheel turns, the slang evolves, we all die eventually. 🎡
🌊 Less linear, more fragmented
Before you spiral into a quarter-life crisis over a dolphin emoji, consider this reaction from Reddit:
“Wtf 😒 Gen Z here. Must be a younger Gen Z thing or something cuz I have never seen anyone use 🐬 as replacement for 😂 unless I’m just behind on the trend.”
If you haven’t seen the dolphin yet, don’t draft your will. We live in a hyper-fragmented digital landscape. There is no monoculture anymore. You can be terminally online and still miss a moment or behaviour that’s taking place in an adjacent cultural bubble. 📉
👻 The afterlife of slang
Just because a piece of slang dies in the youth culture trenches doesn’t mean it stays dead. It lives on comfortably among audiences who simply aren’t fussed about pandering to whatever the kids are currently saying. When you’re speaking to millennials, throwing in a classic cry-laughing emoji isn’t just acceptable - it’s probably your best bet. On the flip side, dropping a row of dolphins into a conversation with a boomer will likely just make them think you fell asleep on your keyboard.
There is also the ironic resurrection to consider. Gen Z has started deploying 😂ironically as a deliberately millennial-coded bit, proving that the emoji ecosystem is packed with nuance.
⛓️💥 How to break free from the chains of youth culture: Embrace your own POV
Instead of frantically chasing trends, brands need to establish their own emoji identity. Think of that one best friend who can’t stop using the ballet twins after every single text👯👯. When applied with originality and consistency, emojis can transcend trends to become part of your brand language. 🎛️🪭👠☕🪫 Even making the conscious decision not to use emojis at all is a powerful creative choice.
While agonising over digital symbols might seem frivolous, your strategy holds deep weight for your audience. Ultimately, understanding exactly how your specific audience uses emojis is integral to getting your brand’s approach right.
Anyway, see you all in six months, when the dolphin’s dead and we’re all communicating exclusively in interpretive silence. 🫥🫥🫥
By Wilfred Bentley, Social Planner, VCCP Social Club