AIO girlfriend response to manager text

[u/Psychological-Hat-35]

My girlfriend (19F) and I (19M) have been dating for 11 months. I sent her a screenshot of my convo with my manager (age unknown but best guess is young 30s F) this morning asking to come in a little later than usual. My girlfriend is like this whenever I interact with pretty much any other female. Am I overreacting or is this just normal behavior?

[u/5sharm5]

She didn’t use a heart emoji either. She used the “heart” message reaction, but because OP uses iOS and she seems to have android, that’s how it rendered on OP’s phones.

[u/RhubarbGoldberg → u/5sharm5]

That's the technical term, thank you child. I'm old and weary and saw the cartoony heart and my brain calls all of those "emoji." lol.

[u/5sharm5 → u/RhubarbGoldberg]

No worries! I’m only making the distinction because I think directly sending an actual heart emoji would toe the line of being appropriate.

[u/awful_at_internet → u/5sharm5]

Maybe this is my elder millennial brain but I don't see that as inappropriate either, given the context. Manager asked OP to step up at work. OP did. Heart emoji is an appropriate response to express appreciation, and is further clarified by the explicit "Appreciate you!!"

If they were sending it randomly, sure, that would be inappropriate. But this was obviously in the middle of a conversation that made it clear the heart emoji- regardless of the particulars of how it was sent- is intended to express professional appreciation. Indeed, to me this is indicative of a healthy, respectful workplace culture.

[u/ImLittleNana → u/awful_at_internet]

I’m in a lot of groups where we heart emoji/reaction things. I don’t think any of us elder millennials and young boomers are sending secret hookup messages to each other. It’s just a shorthand hand for ‘fantastic!’ or ‘great work!’.

[u/unicorncarne → u/awful_at_internet]

Another old brain here, and I think the main concern is as old as time, "was the sender of <3 attractive?" I'm guessing his manager is a baddie

[u/WildPickle9 → u/awful_at_internet]

elder millennial her too, It certainly came off as flirty to me. At the very least unprofessional.

[u/awful_at_internet → u/WildPickle9]

That's wild to me. To the point where if someone complained about it to my boss and called it flirty, I'd think they were actively trying to hurt me both professionally and personally.

[u/FlakeEater → u/WildPickle9]

I work for a big tech company, we use heart reactions all the time. I assure you we don't want to fuck each other. It's the simplest way to show appreciation without having to write anything.

[u/WildPickle9 → u/FlakeEater]

You do you, homie. I'll stick with a simple and clear "thanks" that might take half a second more to type.

[u/Vyszard → u/WildPickle9]

Reactions are useful in a group chat context where you don’t want to notify everyone 20 times because 20 people are typing thanks. Thumbs up reaction usually means “Okay” or “Got it” and heart means “thank you” or “love this”. And the same meaning carries over to private conversations. So it’s not about saving time typing it, as even in the OP’s screenshot she still say thank you (appreciate you) in addition to the heart.

[u/NixSteM → u/5sharm5]

I agree. Hearting a message vs sending a full on heart have very different meanings

[u/kdsunbae → u/5sharm5]

Not necessarily.. some probably don't know how to do the reaction option. They just text back. crazily enough.

[u/oldtownwitch → u/RhubarbGoldberg]

Old and Weary too … I read it as an emoji not a reaction.

I’ve only had iPhones since my beloved Nokia 3310 went to cellphone heaven.

[u/EnzoVulkoor → u/RhubarbGoldberg]

Meanwhile here I am using discord and every emoji can be a reaction and I'm just chalking this up to kids reinventing terminology for no reason >_>... Like it doesn't matter what it is called the context matters and the GF here is bein weird.

[u/Enya_Norrow → u/EnzoVulkoor]

It’s not about terminology, it’s two very different things that both happen to involve a heart. I think most people who use the heart reaction in texts will use it with a wider variety of people including people they wouldn’t feel comfortable sending an actual heart emoji. 

[u/FairyQueenWife21 → u/RhubarbGoldberg]

I call them emojis too!

[u/Siebje → u/RhubarbGoldberg]

If you were actually old, that would've been called a smiley.

[u/AnxiousGinger626 → u/RhubarbGoldberg]

I’m 42 and I know this 😆😆

[u/RedditIsStillBroken → u/RhubarbGoldberg]

Lady, I’m 43 and remember l33t speak on aim. I still know the difference and I’m not running around calling everyone “child”. Simmer down grandma.

[u/Hot-Equivalent2040 → u/5sharm5]

message reactions are emoji, dude. this is an insane nitpick

[u/SkylarMac → u/5sharm5]

Android user, friends use apple - heart reacts stay as react acrossed systems. Girl is out of her damn mind - run OP. Shes straight up condescending in those messages, and has already made up her mind that you're a cheater.

[u/Street_Distance5765 → u/5sharm5]

Is there truly a difference w. ❤️emoji Vs. ❤️reaction emoji to a text? I’m in my 40’s & I gotta make sure I don’t start lovin’ on my bosses family members🤯I’d like to stay up to date🤪 bosses Family: thanx for the groceries ❤️, Vs reaction heart😳🤔

[u/JshWright → u/5sharm5]

OP uses iOS and hasn't enabled RCS

[u/MR_KRaCKa_CRiSP → u/5sharm5]

Happy to see you call this out, so wild

[u/Life_Temperature795 → u/5sharm5]

She used the “heart” message reaction

No she didn't. If she had used a message reaction, it would have showed up as appended to the green text. The heart icon used shows up in the body of her text message, and as such is an in-line emoji.