Thursday, March 10, 2011

Why Emoticons Work in Email

Alex Bain Favorites comes through again with an interesting article on why people like emoticons and smiley faces in email. I've noticed that I'm way less formal in email now, and often use smiley faces in work emails. At first I felt self conscious, but like the way I try to write this blog, it's how I talk. A long time ago I realized I should embrace my personality in business, not try to be a formal robot. That's when my career started to accelerate. Basically I try to "be myself" at all times, even in work environments. I use judgement of course, but it's worked out well, and of course, it's more fun.

Here's the intro quote on the article:
"According to Goleman, there’s a negativity bias to email – at the neural level. In other words, if an email’s content is neutral, we assume the tone is negative.  In face-to-face conversation, the subject matter and its emotional content is enhanced by tone of voice, facial expressions, and nonverbal cues.  Not so with digital communication."