Do Emojis Belong in Business Writing?

Hi! It’s nice to see you. 😃

What do you think I meant by that happy face?

Lacking the precision and nuance of language, emojis are wide open to interpretation. Along with the inherent informality that comes from inserting cartoonish faces in your emails, this fact raises questions about whether emojis are appropriate in business documents. Here are factors to consider:

An Emoji’s Meaning May Depend on Your Age
If you’re a Boomer, you probably thought I was happy to see you in the greeting above. But if you’re a younger person, say, in your 20s, you might think I’m being snarky and am actually not happy to see you. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, emojis have different meanings to different generations. The smiley face that a Boomer innocently sends to a Gen Z team member may seem sarcastic or mocking to the receiver. If you don’t know the age of your reader or if you have multiple readers, can you afford to use an emoji?
😢

An Emoji’s Meaning May Depend on Your Culture
In addition to having different meanings across generations, emojis may have radically different interpretations depending on the receiver’s culture. An article from the BBC points out that emojis are interpreted quite differently among people of different cultures. For example, a red face in some cultures indicates anger; in other cultures, it may connote embarrassment.

The emoji with air coming out of both nostrils is used in Japan to show pride in a job well done. In the United States, people often use it to show anger. So what does the image “mean”?

Let’s say you’re a well-intentioned American with a client in the Middle East or Asia. You may think that since language is a barrier, you can use the universal language of the human face to show how delighted you are to be working with them.

Not so fast. 😠

The Cost of Over-Reliance on Emojis
Beyond the danger of misinterpreting the meaning of an emoji, there is another cost to our over-reliance on these tiny images. Emojis may be weaning us from using language in all its beauty and nuance, like the textisms that so often accompany them.

• Why should we bother to express a sincere apology when we can throw in a sad-faced emoji?
• Why take the time to tell our colleagues why we are so happy about their success when we can send a thumbs-up or happy-face emoji?

Emojis are easy to use, and yes, they have an emotional impact. But what happens when we stop training ourselves to translate our emotions into careful and meaningful language? We stay at a child-like level of understanding — swapping feelings with one another without trying to understand their whole meaning.

How Should We Approach Emojis in Business Writing?
For all their dangers, these little guys can still be our friends. They can warm up our written communication and create an informal, friendly tone among colleagues. But we must approach them with caution.

• Don’t be the first to introduce emojis into a dialogue. Let the other person take the lead. If your client or reader sends you an emoji, you might choose to respond in kind as a way of creating rapport.
• Don’t use emojis if your professionalism is important. Emojis add a breezy informality to your emails. However, if you are a trusted advisor — attorney, accountant, consultant, banker, or another person whose credibility matters, emojis may chip away at your professional luster. Use them sparingly.
• Don’t use unusual emojis. You might be bored with the happy and sad faces, but don’t risk having your reader think you see her as a goat when you wend a goat image to say she’s the “greatest of all time.”
• Consider your readers and their culture before using an emoji. In the Worktalk training programs, we emphasize the importance of analyzing our readers before we write. The same principle applies when you consider inserting an emoji. Before adding that cute emoticon, consider your reader’s age, culture, and your relationship with her. All these factors influence whether you should use an emoji.

How to Substitute for Emojis
If we want to convey feelings and yet avoid the quick thrill of the emoji — or if we want to share a more comprehensive message — here are a few options:

• Pick up the phone. A short, friendly phone call may go farther in building rapport than a chipper emoji.
• Take the time to write out your message, using words to convey your tone. It takes a little more time, but it may also yield better connections with your readers.
• Have a good relationship with your reader, inside and outside your written communications! Nothing goes further than actual connection to make sure your message comes across in the way you mean it.

What Do You Think?
In short, emojis may have a place in business communication if you use conventional emojis with people you know well. However, if you are writing to a person over 50 or from another culture, be cautious.

What’s your opinion of using emojis in business? Please write to me at lizd@worktalk.com and share your thoughts. I will report the results in a future post.

Thanks for reading this Writamin about using emojis in business. 😊 🤭 😃
🤪

Elizabeth Danziger is a communications consultant based in Los Angeles, California. Her firm, Worktalk Communications Consulting, prepares teams to write clearly and concisely.