Rachel Paula Abrahamson
Texting your parents can feel like stepping into a linguistic funhouse. A single period may carry the weight of judgment; a message like “Are you alone?” followed by radio silence instantly turns your phone into a panic generator; and emojis — oh, the emojis — arrive like cryptic hieroglyphs whose meanings are equal parts affectionate and bewildering.
It’s a master class in generational miscommunication, delivered one notification at a time.
Recently, Jason Saperstone, a 22-year-old publicist in New York City, decided he’d had enough and made a PowerPoint on texting etiquette for his parents, Nancy and Pete, who live in Boston.
“They text with such good intentions,” Saperstone tells TODAY.com, “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.”
His first lesson, which is going viral on Instagram, focused on the fine art of reacting to a message with an exclamation point.
“Mom and Dad, I love you, but you need to get better at texting,” he began the video. “So the thing we’re going to be working on today is how to use the emphasis.”
According to Saperstone, emphasizing is appropriate in three circumstances:
Saperstone provides an example: Not long ago, he texted Nancy that he was at a bar with Alex Cooper, the host of the “Call Her Daddy,” podcast, and she emphasized the message — when, according to him, she should have simply used the “thumbs up” reaction.
“Because I was excited for you!” Nancy said, laughing from behind the camera as she explained her reaction. Saperstone appreciated her enthusiasm but explained that the “like” button was the correct choice in this situation, since it didn’t carry any of the three additional implications.
The lesson clearly struck a chord, even catching the attention of Reese Witherspoon, who commented, “Gosh, I have been doing all of this incorrectly for a WHILE.”
Other comments include:
However, plenty of people came to Nancy’s defense, arguing that she was simply excited. As one commenter noted, “It means WOW in mom text rules.”
If Saperstone gives a follow-up lessons, he’ll have plenty to cover — starting with emojis.
“The skull emoji? That means laughing so hard you died,” Saperstone tells TODAY. “And then there are the dirty ones… we don’t even need to get into that.”
Yes, we’re looking at you, eggplant.
Rachel Paula Abrahamson is an entertainment journalist-turned-lifestyle reporter living in Boston. She covers parenting, pop culture, and news for TODAY.com — and fancies herself an expert on all things twin-related! In 2024, Rachel received an NBC Gem Award (Going the Extra Mile) for her contributions to NBC. Rachel lives in the Boston area with her husband, their two daughters, and labrodaughter Asti. Follow her on Instagram.
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