Stop! Before you send that friendly email to the person you met at that networking event last night, or send that in-mail with a smiling emoji, ask yourself this. Do you know this person well enough to send them an email containing a cute, yellow, smiling blob? A recent study suggests that you might want to think twice before you put that emoji in your email. Because, you just might be surprised to find out what that emoji is actually saying about you.
- You’re not actually friendly
The researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel found that professional emails which feature “smiley” emoji actually don’t carry genuine “warmth.” Meaning, that even though your emoji is smiling and trying to send a positive message, the opposite is happening.
- You are not competent
Not only does the smiling emoji not make you appear genuine or that you’re sending a friendly message, it actually makes you seem less competent at your job. In the study, 549 participants from 29 different countries read a professional, work-related email from a sender not in their contacts. They then had to evaluate the “competence and warmth” of that person. Study participants reported that emails with emojis seemed to contain less content, and weren’t as detailed. Meaning that the person that sent it wasn’t being perceived as sending an important message with a lot of pertinent details.
- It can’t replace a smile
Study participants also reported that a smiling emoji cannot replace the warmth or connection that an actual smile conveys. Even though that’s what your emoji is likely trying to accomplish in a digital form, it falls short of reaching that goal.
However, there is some good news. You can still use emoji with people you work with regularly or people that you know. Study participants said that they didn’t judge people they knew in a negative way when they received emails with emoji. So before you send that email with a smiling emoji to someone you just met, or to someone who just interviewed you, think twice about what that cheery little yellow blob might really be saying about you.