The most common usage for the Shrugging Emoji is to suggest that you lack information about something. Think of this emoji as a way to say “I don’t know”. Let’s say your friend asks you a really tough maths or linguistics question. Of course you could type back “google it”, but this may be construed as rudeness. Alternatively, message back a shrug for a relatively neutral message in tone. You can also use the emoji to suggest indecision, which can be particularly effective if you want to move the conversation away from you. Let’s take an example where you have a group of friends who are hotly debating lunch. The spotlight falls on you - and rather than pick a side, you could stay neutral and just text back: 🤷 happy with either to be honest. That above example also applies to the third and final common use for the Shrug Emoji, using it as a way to say “I don’t care”. Sometimes, the shrug is a far more gentle and elegant way to convey this sentiment; the phrase by itself can be perceived as aggressive and may cause conflict.

The Person Shrugging emoji was added to Emoji 3.0 and was approved as part of Unicode 9.0 in the same year.