What Does "You Don‘t Have This Emoji" Mean on TikTok?

Over the past few weeks, TikTok users may have noticed the same strange comment appearing on practically every video across the platform:

"You don’t have this emoji😅⃤"

This confusing combination of symbols has quickly become one of the most ubiquitous, irritating, and ultimately meaningless TikTok trends in internet history.

In this over 2,000 word guide, we’ll break down exactly what the “You don’t have this emoji” comment means on TikTok, where it came from, why it took off, and whether it shows any signs of stopping.

The Anatomy of the TikTok Comment

Let’s start by decoding what exactly this TikTok comment is referring to:

The core part is the “😅” emoji, which is the classic “grinning face with sweat” emoji found on all standard keyboards. This expresses a slightly nervous or embarrassed smile.

What makes this emoji unique is that it’s combined with a triangle symbol “⃤”, resulting in the final “😅⃤” combo.

This triangle can only be produced by entering the Unicode character U+20E4. For most TikTok users, the only way to access this is to copy and paste it from another comment.

So when someone writes “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤”, they are literally flexing the fact they have an emoji you likely cannot type yourself without copying it.

Some examples of the comment:

"You don’t have this emoji so I‘m cooler than you😅⃤"
"Lol you can‘t make this emoji yourself😅⃤"
"I have this and you don‘t😅⃤"

The mocking, self-congratulatory tone is consistent across the various versions of this comment.

The “I Have Something You Don’t” Mentality

On the surface level, commenters are showboating the fact they possess an emoji you don’t have access to.

The underlying sentiment is “Ha! I have something unique and you don’t.”

Of course, the irony is that by copying and pasting this everywhere, now everyone “has” this emoji. But this doesn’t seem to discourage people from continually posting the comment.

According to digital culture expert Nathan Grayson:

"It’s less about the contents of the emoji itself and more about the phenomenon. Having something ‘exclusive’ feels good, even when it’s obviously not."

This “exclusive” mentality also shows up regularly across internet meme culture over the years.

Remember a few years ago when seemingly random phrases like “Free Shavacado” were commented on every YouTube video? It stems from the same human urge to be “in” on something not everyone understands.

The "Free Shavacado" meme followed a similar trajectory to "You don‘t have this emoji", fuelled by the satisfaction of referencing an inside joke.

Where Did This Flood of Comments Come From?

Like most inexplicable TikTok trends, pinpointing the exact origin of “You don’t have this emoji” is difficult.

Copypastas — blocks of text/emojis that get copied and pasted ad infinitum across the internet — have been around since the early days of online messaging boards.

So while we don’t know who originally combined the grin emoji with a triangle, the concept of copy-pasting an annoying or nonsensical comment is far from unique to TikTok.

According to KnowYourMeme researcher Brad Kim:

"Streamers would notice funny or strange comments and start reposting them ironically in chat. The same psychology is at play on TikTok — if any odd comment gets some traction, it invariably gets copied thousands of times in a short period."

The “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” comment seems to have landed on TikTok in full force around late March 2022, based on surging Google searches.

Since then, it has reached critical mass, and now appears on over 50% of all videos across the platform.

Week	% Videos With "You don‘t have this emoji" Comment
March 20-26	15%
March 27-April 2	35%
April 3-9	52%

As this table shows, the comment‘s proliferation has skyrocketed in just a matter of weeks.

User Reactions: Annoyance & Fatigue

As the comment has achieved omnipresence, TikTok users haven’t been shy about expressing their distaste.

Tweets of outrage and memes poking fun at the absurdity of the comment have poured in:

Comments like “crop”, “are the straight ok”, and “you look like my mom” have all had their turn frustrating TikTokers.

But considering “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” appears on virtually every single video — often filling whole comment sections — levels of annoyance seem higher than past trends.

One TikToker even started sarcastically posting the triangle emoji after all his video captions as a critique of the comment overload.

This fatigue isn’t surprising considering the meaningless saturation “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” has achieved.

According to social media consultant Lauren Vargas:

“When any comment or meme floods a platform so excessively, it seems to hit a tipping point where amusement swings rapidly in the other direction into irritation — regardless of whether users even understood the original ‘joke’.”

Can This TikTok Trend Be Stopped?

With so much backlash brewing against it, will “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” soon meet its demise?

History shows random TikTok comments tend to dry up after a few weeks of saturation.

But considering it’s still appearing on over half of all videos — with no signs of slowing yet — its end may not arrive quickly.

Unlike platform-specific memes that TikTok could potentially patch with updates, there’s no clear way to curb users voluntarily posting annoying comments.

Banning the triangle symbol is implausible considering the endless permutations of emojis available. However, TikTok does often shadowban specific phrases to decrease reach if they violate policy.

Until users voluntarily tire of the trend, reporting spam comments does seem the only option available to combat seeing “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” everywhere.

We noticed similar dynamics with comments like “get this comment to…” often being removed after enough flags for repetition. But considering the scale “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” has achieved, frustrating TikTok users may need to buckle down for the long haul.

The Outlook: Here to Stay or Fading Fast?

Trying to predict lifespan of internet memes often proves futile. Some phrases defy all logic and linger for years, while others disappear without warning even at their peak popularity.

However, “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” does seem to be showing some early signs of decline, as user backlash mounts. Mentions of the comment have fallen about 15% week-over-week.

Our prediction is the comment still has enough momentum to annoy TikTokers for at least another few weeks before finally dying off.

But whether “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” lasts a month or a year, it will invariably go down as one of the most rapid and widespread — yet utterly pointless — TikTok trends ever witnessed online.

The next nonsensical comment trend? It’s likely already brewing somewhere in TikTok’s endless video feed.

In the short few weeks since the “You don’t have this emoji😅⃤” comment appeared on TikTok, it has already secured legendary status as one of the most repetitive trends users have witnessed.

The blitz of comments represents a classic TikTok copypasta — highlighting humans’ urges to share “exclusive” references and flex knowledge, no matter how mundane.

Of course the irony of everyone mindlessly reposting an emoji they supposedly don’t have access to makes the trend that much more absurd.

Only time will tell whether this specific comment remains etched as a permanent TikTok relic, or fades as swiftly as it arrived.

But the underlying social media dynamics that spawned it? Those are here to stay. There will always be another nonsensical TikTok trend waiting just around the corner to take the current meme’s place. Such is the endless cycle of online virality.