A Campaign to Make the Smiley Face Professional
In many of my messages to people, whether professional or casual, I find myself wanting to add a smiley face at the end of my sentences! :) ...Like I just did there. If I am saying something happy, cheerful, or positive, I can’t help but want to add that cute little colon and parenthesis to the end of my thought because it’s what I would be doing in real life if the conversation were happening in-person. I want the recipient of my message to know how I feel, and I want them to feel the warmth I am trying to communicate over my virtual message.
However, there are plenty of moments when I come to a halt in my typing. I feel guilty or question myself for wanting to add a nice “:)” to the end of my sentences. This is where my campaign to make the smiley face professional begins.
If I am talking to a friend, the habit to use emoticons in my messages is second nature. I love it, and I love receiving them. However, professionally, I feel a different way.
When I am emailing a professor, an employee, or someone in a more professional setting, I will stare at my email draft for five minutes trying to decide if I have added too many exclamation points or if it would be appropriate to add a simple :) at the end of my sentence. (This differs with professors I am close with, but at this point, they have transcended to the level of “friend” in my book, so of course I feel ok using a smiley face.)
When it comes to these other professional settings, I am worried how my punctuation will be perceived. Will I seem immature or silly because I added a smiley face to the end of my message? Does the term professional get disassociated with my name? Will all of my previous sophisticated thoughts in the message be disregarded? Will I be taken seriously? I never know what to think.
In my opinion, the use of smiley faces are just the same as written language. Of course what I am presenting is not even that radical, just a simple “:)” to end a sentence. However, I think it is important to note that visual symbols and drawings were found at the birth of human civilization. Images and pictures are how we are wired to think, feel, and communicate by nature. Not by text and language. In my Introduction to Graphic Design course, I learned that the Lascaux Cave drawings in France were the first examples of graphic design, and the beginning of human visual communication is rooted in drawings such as these. It’s in our DNA!
At the end of the day, I encourage using hints of fun in your emails! Make it normalized! Normalize it in papers, legislation, constitutions, and more! (Ok, that might be too far, but you understand what I’m saying). In case you aren’t familiar with the endless possibilities, you can check out this list to fulfill all of your emoticon needs! I certainly love to receive that sort of cheer in my emails… and if someone I communicate with doesn’t feel the same way… I’m sorry :(