The Story of the Shrug Emoticon
What is the story of the great ¯\_(ツ)_/¯? Yes, the shrug emoticon. According to one version of the
story, a man named Christopher Foster’s picture was put up on Facebook in 2008 under which one of his
friends copied his interesting shrug in text by using Japanese syllabary called katakana. The ツ in the
emoticon is called Tsu. So this is a “kaomoji” or “face mark” in Japenese or the “shruggie” or
“smughshrug” in English. Mr. Foster apparently grew tired of his gesture being appropriated so he sued
Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and many other websites all at once. Seeing this kaomoji is still a fav, it’s easy
to guess Mr. Foster did not win the case.
Another version of the story relates the Shrug to a Kanye West crew member tweeting it copying
Kanye’s shrug during the 2010 Video Music Awards. Whichever story is accurate, the emoticon has been
interpreted to mean many things including indifference, resignation or a nihilistic “I don’t care”. After
going viral, it’s noticed everywhere including in movies like Star Wars, Spiderman, and in real life. Since
going viral this 11 stroke symbol has been replicated millions of times.