Gratitude is going digital — and millennials are leading the emoji-packed charge.
The latest way to say “I love you, man” isn’t with a beer or a bear hug.
It’s with a post-hang text — a heartfelt digital love letter sent immediately after brunch, a night out or even just a 15-minute FaceTime.
The gist?
“Wow, I needed that. So grateful for you!!!”
Affectionate and aggressively earnest, these follow-up messages — dubbed “millennial thank you notes” — are flooding group chats and inboxes with a tidal wave of feelings.
“You know when someone texts you right after you get home from hanging out with them and they say, like, ‘I had a great time, so nice to see you’? What a gift from God,” gushed TikTok user @carlabezanson in a viral video that’s racked up more than 850,000 likes.
Another mushy user, @tpwkky, chimed in, “One thing about me is I WILL be sending the ‘thank you so much for hanging out with me’ text immediately after hanging out. I love telling people in my life they matter to me bc life is short and you should appreciate them while you still can (:”
Cringe? Maybe. Cute? Absolutely.
And according to a 2023 OnePoll study for Josh Cellars, Americans are on the same sappy wavelength: The average person says “thank you” six times a day — totaling over 2,200 expressions of gratitude per year.
A whopping 83% say they try to practice gratitude daily. Millennials are just choosing to do it with a digital diary entry sent at 9:47 p.m.
Even Gen Z is catching feels — sort of.
“Me fighting the urge to text my friends, ‘thank you for hanging with me today, it was so much fun 😀 You’re literally the reason I’m gonna see the sunrise tomorrow’ every time we finish hanging out,” joked user @thatssorav3n_ in a TikTok dripping with sarcasm (and over 573,000 likes).
The generational split is clear: Millennials wear their hearts on their texts. Gen Z prefers theirs with a thick layer of irony — and a wink.
“I feel like it’s a very Gen Z thing, earnestness through irony,” 27-year-old Andrew Pattenaude recently told Bustle. “It’s like a layer of protection to say something that you genuinely feel.”
Still, licensed mental health counselor Kathryn Lee says millennials might be onto something.
“Millennials would probably prefer more of that face-to-face connection, because that is what they grew up with,” she told the outlet. When they finally get it, “they’re sure to say ‘thank you.’ ”
In fact, gratitude isn’t just a warm, fuzzy feeling — it’s a full-blown movement.
The Post previously reported on the aforementioned OnePoll study, and how 57% of Americans are saying “thank you” more often than in years past.
A surprising 40% even keep a written gratitude list, while others gush about everything from their families and friends to their bosses and baristas.
TikTok user @paige_netting summed it up best: “Trying not to send a ‘thank you for hanging out with me, I really appreciate being together’ after every casual hangout with friends.”
Sure, some people feel closest to their loved ones during the holidays — when 76% in the study said they’re more connected.
But for millennials, the new season of thanks is year-round and always starts with: “Hey, that was a lot of fun.”
And sometimes, that’s more than enough.
As @thatssorav3n_ put it: “You’re literally the reason I’m gonna see the sunrise tomorrow.”
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