Emoji Overuse
“We Didn’t Know If We Were Promoted or Being Roasted by an Avocado.”
In an effort to appear “more relatable to Gen Z,” regional manager Dale Brenner of QuantumFlex Logistics has officially switched to emoji-only communication. Memos, announcements, and performance reviews now arrive as mysterious strings of icons including fire, goat, unicorn, and the ever-ambiguous upside-down smiley.
“At first, we thought it was a joke,” said HR assistant Mallory. “Then he emailed ???????? and told me that was our Q3 roadmap.”
The new system has caused chaos. Sales teams interpreted ?????? as “be aggressive and take risks,” while marketing assumed it meant “get a goat-themed influencer ASAP.”
Dale defends his approach. “Language evolves. I’m just future-proofing synergy through pictorial vibing.”
Confused employees have resorted to translating messages using astrology apps and Reddit threads. One worker tried to file for vacation using ??????? but ended up reassigned to a client in Siberia.
Corporate consultants warn of “semiotic burnout,” a condition caused by trying to decode whether ?? is a snack suggestion or a sexual harassment complaint.
Management is considering rolling back the policy. Dale’s response? “???????????.”
Auf Wiedersehen, amigos.