Gen Z’s Guide to Texting for Parents Ignites Heated Discussion

A Gen Z young man crafted a humorous ‘texting guide’ for his parents, triggering a heated debate about the correct use of exclamation points. An unexpected twist was the involvement of a famous celebrity in the discussion.

Jason Saperstone, 22, from New York City, was fed up with his parents using the emphasis option on iMessage for iPhone’s incorrectly.

So he decided to make them a little PowerPoint presentation breaking down the right and wrong times to use it.

He recorded a video of himself explaining the guide to his mother, Nancy, and father, Pete, and posted it online. This sparked a wide-ranging debate over the meaning of emphasis and the appropriate times to use it.

‘Mom and dad, I love you but you need to get better at texting,’ Jason told his parents in the clip.

‘So the thing that we’re going to be working on today is how to use the emphasis.’

In iMessage, holding down a message allows you to add reactions like a thumbs up, question mark, heart, and two exclamation points, among other options.

And the two exclamation points has become known as emphasizing a message.

But according to Jason, there are only three times you should be using it during a text conversation. 

First, when ‘you agree with what they are saying.’ Second if ‘you are in the same situation as someone.’ And third, when ‘someone is ignoring your message and you want attention.’

He then shared an example of a text message that he felt his mom had wrongly emphasized. It said, ‘I’m at a bar with Alex Cooper.’

‘Why did you emphasize this?’ he asked his mom, who replied, ‘I was excited for you.’ 

‘But it’s not… that would mean that you’re also at the bar with Alex Cooper, were you at the bar with Alex Cooper?’ an exasperated Jason said.

‘No but I would have liked to have been,’ his mom dished.

‘Then you say that. How does [emphasizing it] say that? It doesn’t. No. This would be a great [time to give it a] like, give it a thumbs up,’ added the Gen Zer.

‘Next time you’re about to emphasize a text message, stop and ask yourself, 1) Do I agree with what they are saying? 2) Am I in the same situation as them? 3) Are they ignoring me and do I want attention? If none apply, a simple thumbs up will suffice, I promise,’ read Jason’s last slide.

‘I think of [the emphasis] as, “Wow, that’s awesome, I’m excited,”‘ defended Nancy.

‘Please tell me my parents aren’t the only ones who do this,’ Jason captioned the video, which has since gone viral.

People quickly took to the comment section to share their thoughts, and while some agreed with Jason’s analysis of the emphasis others were on his mom’s side.

Others confessed that they had learned something new and had been using it wrong, including actress Reese Witherspoon.

‘Gosh, I have been doing all of this incorrectly for a WHILE,’ the star, 49, wrote.

‘I thought emphasize was the equivalent of saying “omg,”‘ someone else chimed in.

‘I kind of agree with nom here! I use it like “omg, whaaat?” Like in response to someone telling me something wild or exciting,’ added another user.

‘DISAGREE with the presenter and AGREE with mom. The emphasis on the Alex Cooper text conveys “holy s**t! That’s awesome!”‘ read a fourth comment.

A fifth said, ‘This guy is right 100 percent, this is how me and everyone I know emphasizes messages.’

‘Taking communication advice from Gen Z is like taking financial advice from boomers,’ joked a different commenter.

‘As a 33-year-old I am learning something new today,’ someone else penned. 

‘I’m 26 and agree with the mom,’ announced another user.

‘I love Gen Z, but they don’t get to make all the rules,’ said someone else. 

While chatting with the Today show about it, Jason explained, ‘[My parents] text with such good intentions, but I don’t think they really get all the features. 

‘Gen Z has made it tricky for them. We’ve basically created our own language that only we fully understand.’