Does the smiley face have a place in the PR workplace?
Emoticons have become commonplace in our daily correspondence, even creeping into business communications. Not everyone’s happy about it. 🙁
You’re writing a business-related email, which you conclude with a sarcastic remark. Consequently, you feel the need to use—yes—the smiley face emoticon.
What do you do?
Emoticons like the smiley face have made tremendous headway into businesses the last few years. It seems that only a few years ago, smiley faces were merely for text messages. Soon, they started showing up on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Now, they appear regularly in business emails.
Is that devaluing business communication?
Does it impact your perception of the sender of that message?
Does it make the sender of the message seem younger or more immature? Or is it a way to humanize our email communications throughout the day?
Is it a way to have a little fun in what can be an unbearably dreary workday—put a little personality into our business communication?
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