PSA: You can now type ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in Google Hangouts with an easy slash command

Sage LaTorra, a Test Engineer at Google, just told the world about an awesome little Easter egg he added to Google Hangouts. He’s one to often use the shrug emoji, so it makes sense that this was a priority for him. As of now, all you have to do to add a “shruggie” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to your Hangouts message is add the command “/shruggie” to the beginning…

Sadly, it doesn’t appear to work on mobile yet—desktop only. Here’s how it looks in practice:

The characters in a “shruggie” aren’t typically found on your standard mobile or desktop keyboard, so typing one usually calls for a copy/paste job or a custom keyboard. Now, all you have to do is type a simple command. I have an appreciation for the underutilized emoji, and this makes me happy. As one person on Google+ put it, Sage LaTorra is indeed “a real hero.”