Emojis, Slang and (no) Punctuation: Finding the Balance in Communicating Across Generations
By Stacey Clapp
The key to healthy partnerships in team environments is more than communication: it's comprehension as well. For this issue, Stacey Clapp, director of Strategic Communications, decided to focus on intergenerational communication and offered tips for avoiding miscommunication in both the workplace and the classroom.
Have you ever felt like you need to enlist a translator when you’re communicating with students? Or that younger coworker or “seasoned” colleague in another department?
That’s because the rules of communication are changing with each generation, and work is the one place everyone —from boomers to Gen Z— come together. These changes can have a big impact in the workplace and classroom.
Common Generation Characteristics
- Born approximately mid 1940s – 1960s
- Strong work ethic
- Went through the entire period of technological evolution
- Less dependent on smartphones than the next generations
- Prefer direct, face-to-face communication and value organizational structure
- Appreciate phone calls, meetings and memos
- Respecting their experience and knowledge fosters effective communication
- Born approximately mid 1960s – late 1970s
- Their life has not been easy; finding a job was a great challenge
- Value individualism, ambition and work ethic
- Experienced analog and digital worlds
- Adaptable and self-reliant
- Prefer straightforward, concise communication that respects their time; adapt well to digital channels
- Seek work-life balance and value a results-driven approach
- Born approximately early 1980s – mid 1990s
- Digital Natives: technology is part of their everyday lives and shape their communication preferences
- Value work-life balance, seek purpose in their careers
- Prefer authentic and open communication via interactive platforms like messaging apps, email and social media
- Appreciate recognition for their contributions
- Born approximately mid 1990s – early 2010s
- Technology may lead them to neglect interpersonal relationships
- Ardent supporters of social causes
- Limited attention span and expect everything immediately as a result of their digital world
- May have jobs that do not exist in today's world
- Prefer instant communication through digital channels, video conferencing and collaboration tools
- Appreciate authentic, real-time feedback and seek diverse and inclusive workspaces
- Born after 2010
- Hyperconnected
- Expect their individual needs and preferences to be taken into account
- Video is their preferred format currently, but communication preferences will reflect latest trends
- Oldest Alphas are entering high school
Tips to Communicate Across Generations
So, how should you communicate with a multigenerational workforce?
It’s important to use multiple communication channels, including email, social media and videoconferencing to provide options for employees to choose a space where they are most comfortable. Be sure to tailor language so it is appropriate for the platform. When possible, personalized communication will make employees feel valued.
Gen Z Slang
- Sus — The impression that something is questionable or dishonest
- Bet — An expression that means 'I agree', 'good news'
- Yeet — To violently throw an object you deem to be worthless
- Salty — When you are upset over something little
- Cap — Another word for lying, “stop capping”
- Extra — Being over the top, excessive, dramatic behavior.
- Drip — When something is very cool. Can be used to describe an outfit/accessory, person, song, etc.
- Finna — Abbreviation of 'fixing to'. Normally means 'going to'
- Mid — Used to insult or degrade something or an opposing opinion, labeling it as average or poor quality
Are you fluent in Gen Z office speak?
Find out how well you understand emojis, slang and reactions that your Generation Z colleagues & students use in The Washington Post Cringe Quiz.
With many employees working remotely or on staggered shifts, integrating modern communication tools is essential for collaboration and sharing information. However, with a workforce that has varying comfort levels with these platforms, training and support is critical to ensure no one is left behind. Consider a gradual implementation to allow employees time to adapt and provide feedback.
Common Communication Traps
Miscommunication among generations often happens through uses of punctuation, slang and emojis.
While the first emoji was a simple “:-)” posted by a Carnegie Mellon University professor on the school’s primitive online bulletin board in 1982, according to Guiness, the cute symbols have exploded in use in the last decade.
As digital natives, Gen Z grew up communicating electronically and through texting, and they often use emojis ironically. For example, the painting nails emoji (💅) expresses sass or confidence.
If you want to send your Gen Z colleague or student into a tailspin, end your message with a simple smiley face. Why? To them, a smile without a toothy grin is ambiguous and they think something could be wrong.
Each generation has their favorite slang:
- Boomers— slammin, bummer, mellow
- Gen X— Cool, lame, awesome, yuppie, gnarly
- Gen Y— OMG, chill, lame, basic, clap back
- Gen Z— Slay, sus, finna
Think about the words you use in emails, lectures and tests. Will today’s students understand your intent? Make sure you are not falling into a generational trap. And if you can’t decipher that 2 a.m. email from a student, consult urbandictionary.com before making any assumptions.
Punctuation —or the absence of punctuation— is another common generational communication pitfall.
Older generations adapted digital communication like email from letter writing and are likely to carry over the same punctuation habits. For Gen Z, letter writing is a foreign concept. They grew up with screens in their hands and often send each sentence in a separate text message, so they omit the period. In fact, sometimes Gen Z interpret a period as passive-aggressive or cold because it’s so formal.
While Gen Z shuns periods, they 💓exclamation marks! Gen Z is not afraid to express enthusiasm, and often the more the better!!! Older Gen X and Boomer colleagues don’t use them as often see them as unprofessional.
It’s important to use multiple communication channels, including email, social media and videoconferencing to provide options for employees to choose a space where they are most comfortable... When possible, personalized communication will make employees feel valued."
Will we ever understand one another? Yes — there are several steps we can all take in the workplace to improve communication:
- Take time to engage with colleagues of different ages
- Focus group with students on recruitment and advertising materials
- Hire students workers and interns for peer-to-peer communication
- Review direct communications and pause before replying to ensure there is no ambiguity
- When in doubt, consult Urban Dictionary!
In the classroom:
- Set expectations
- Reinforce expectations
- Adjust expectations as warranted
- Review direct communications and pause before replying to ensure there is no ambiguity
About the Contributor
Stacey Clapp is the director of Strategic Communications in University Relations & Marketing and a longtime member of the Committee on Campus Diversity & Inclusive Excellence.
The Case for Building a Culture of Nontraditional Students
SPRING 2023 ISSUE
Traditional students are defined as students between the ages of 18-24, and much of my own academic work has been at universities that prioritized creating a comfortable campus culture for these students.
Over the years, I have taken great pride in being part of a team that prepared young adults for a challenging, competitive and an ever-changing work/life landscape. More recently, I have been able to expand my reach by serving as the Age-Friendly University champion and by teaching older adults in the Stockton Institute for Lifelong Learning (SILL), both initiatives of the Stockton Center on Successful Aging (SCOSA).
Prompted by a newsletter from my alma mater that described a program for nontraditional students, I began to reflect on this group of learners with whom I have had little experience. In this article, I will discuss how nontraditional is often defined, why an age-diverse campus that includes traditional and nontraditional students at the undergraduate level is both timely and important and the Douglass Bunting Program (Rutgers University) that began in 1958 and continues to evolve and has elements worth emulating at Stockton.
Defining "Nontradtional"
Although the definition of a nontraditional student has been debated, age (especially being over the age of 24) has been the defining characteristic for this group. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES: non-traditional definition), age acts as a proxy variable that describes a heterogeneous population of adult students that often have family and work responsibilities, and additional risk factors that can interfere with successful completion of a program (NCES Statistics).
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