To add that little, friendly “:)” or not? And what about the oh-so-devious “>:)”?
Though emojis and emoticons have become commonplace in our technology dependent world—just look at the 2017 animated film The Emoji Movie that capitalized on the smiley face craze—they still remain taboo in the realm of emails. This shouldn’t be the case however; the icons facilitate clearer communication online and thus, should be included in emails.
First, one important clarification: emojis are the colorful, image icons while emoticons are the icons made from combining keyboard keys.
On Sept.19, 1982, the emoticon was born and his name was Smiley. He had a pair of colon eyes, a dash nose, and an end parentheses smile. His father, Scott Fahlman, was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) at the time.
In the computer science department at CMU, chat boards had become the dominant form of communication. The boards were an online forum where any student or professor could post a message and others could comment. According to Fahloth serious and humorous posts were posted onto the board, leading people to ferociously counter-comment on humorous posts that they believed were serious. Smiley was Fahlman’s solution, meant to indicate when a post was humorous.
As Fahlman puts it, “After all, when using text-based online communication, we lack the body language or tone-of-voice cues that convey this information when we talk in person or on the phone.”
Through online communication, we have gained the best and lost the worst parts of communication: the ability to succinctly communicate from anytime, anywhere, and the ability to communicate non-verbally—to react back emotionally through facial expressions. In casual texting, we can make up for this with expressive GIFS and stickers that indicate how we’re feeling, but in email, especially in communication with teachers and professors, there is a more formal atmosphere that makes these reactions less appropriate.
The solution? Enter emoticons and emojis.
Emoticons are small but powerful presences in the space of an email. They express emotions that the constrictive medium of email may not allow. Similar to a nod or a smile made in face-to-face conversations, a “:)” can offer unspoken thanks, adding in a concrete symbol of friendliness that one does not have to read between the lines to find.
Emojis, too, occupy an important place in e-communication. They especially standout thanks to their bright colors and direct attention to whatever the sender needs to highlight.
According to the research paper “Emojis influence emotional communication, social attributions, and information processing,” “processing speed and understanding of verbal messages was enhanced by the presence of congruent emojis.”
In digital spaces, the pair occupy the same sort of niche that punctuation holds in writing, serving to clarify communication. A golden star emoji is comparable to a dash; both place emphasis on their respective clauses. In fact, the combination of visual imagery and placement in emojis and emoticons has allowed them to become an alternate, modern language capable of imitating real-life reactions.
With their simple designs, the icons are able to be conveniently adapted for any usage even in the daunting sphere of emails.
There are some caveats to icon usage. Placing too many can also come across as a cheap gimmick for attention, like in spam emails, and some teachers may be particularly averse to them. Otherwise, consider popping a “:)” in your next email—you might just get a “:D” back.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RACHELLE WITARNO
