Use Of Emojis In Official Communications Might Not Be Your Best Idea

Official correspondence has evolved over time. From inter-office memos sent on paper to instant messaging, we have come a long way. Today, many new-generation offices have embraced some sorts of social media as a way of communication. Social media offers a variety of services. Even our phones have started to offer us many services that could make our messages more friendly and warm. Emojis play a large part in said messages. Conveying feelings had been a long-overdue issue for people who preferred texting. The advent of emojis changed that and people could easily convey how they felt when they were typing any message.

However, when it comes to official correspondence in offices, the use of emojis is still frowned upon. Though the message may convey a feeling of warmth in a personal context, studies found that official communication remains aloof of that concept.

A new study entitled, ‘The Dark Side of a Smiley’, is based on this particular issue. It explores the mindsets of various nationals from over 29 countries regarding the use of emojis in official emails. While the smileys showed warmth in personal messages, most of the participants found emojis in official emails to be a sign of incompetence.

The study not only experimented with the receiving part of emojis but also asked participants to respond to emails. The study found surprising results. While it was expected that the emails with emojis would convey the message better, they were less detail-oriented and less content-related.

Another experiment conducted was based on the perception of photographs. A smiling photograph was perceived as friendlier than a neutral photograph. All the experiments were conducted with the gender of the sender kept secret. This eliminated the possibility of a gender bias. However, the use of a smiley in an email was assumed to be more by females. Nevertheless, the assumption did not affect the perception of competence.

The research team concluded that even though smiling in a face-to-face conversation in the office might be perceived as a sign of friendly behavior, the use of emojis in the official communication was a sign of incompetence.