Email Etiquette II: Why Emoticons (And Emotional Cues) Work :: Tips :: The 99 Percent
Email is an art. Just sayin’.
“Until keyboards can actually perceive the emotional content of our digital messages (not so far off!), emoticons may be the simplest method of clarifying tone. I’ve had to let go of my own perception that emoticons are silly. They may currently be our best tool for elevating the emotional clarity of digital messages.”
Confession: until a couple of years ago I thought emoticons were inappropriate for work emails. I forbade my team from doing the smiley faces - they were unprofessional, a sign of immaturity, and damaged one’s credibility. I’ve since had to let that go too (perhaps because of peer pressure?), and accept their usefulness… at least under the right context.
At least this isn’t one of those “nobody uses email anymore” articles.
