Emoticons and email ettiquette

With the growing dominance and widely used of computer-mediated communication nowadays, the problem of the inability of people to accurately interpret emotions and intentions in email has also increasing. This is then lead to the rising of email users that embed emoticons in their messages to assists meaning-making process. Not only that, the formality and informality and also structure of an email are highly depend on the situational and cultural context within which they are interpreted and who are the reader (abc.net.au 2007).

Example of emoticons in gmail

Source: Google Image

Emoticons are visual cues that enhance the communications and understanding of email as it helps to reduce the misperception and mistakes in interpreting the message. However, a good writing in the sense of good structure, appropriate situational and cultural context plays an important role in assisting readers in perceiving the messages from the email too.

According to Rezabeck and Cochenour (1995), emoticons provide support to written communication as they are a means for better defining emotions and intent regarding a particular phase or statement via electronic mail. It is able to clarify the exact meaning of messages by simply adding a happy face, J after a joke or sad face,L for sad statement to emphasize the nature of the messages (Rezabeck & Cochenour 1995). In addition, Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) highlighted that the integration of text and image could enhance the effectiveness in delivering the messages. The use of emoticon in email writing reflects the integration of text and image where both support each other and reach a definite meaning in interpretation.

On the other hand, integration of text and image is not always the best way as it depend on how well the document has been designed (Schriver 1997). The quality of writing and structure are essential in an email as it relates to the situational and cultural context within which they are interpreted and who the readers are. Referring to Putnis and Petelin (1996), a good writing must consists good understanding of conventions and principles as what may right for one purpose, maybe wrong for another. The most effective writing takes into account the readership and also situation. For example, in business and professional convention, formal writing is likely more appropriate as it highly constitute their image and credibility. So, it is not suitable to include emoticons in formal writing.

As conclusion, I personally think that emoticons can help to reduce the misperception and mistakes in interpreting the message of an email. Yet, it is important to distinguish where and when to use and not to use emoticons according to the level of communication formality.

Referencing

Kress, G, & van Leeuwen, T 2006, ‘The semiotic landscape: language and visual communication’, Reading images, Chapter 1.

Putnis, P and Peterlin, R 1996, ‘Writing to communicate’, Professional communication, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Rezabeck, LL & Cochenour, JJ 1995, ‘Emoticons: Visual Cues for Computer-Mediated Communication, Education Resources Information Center, A unique accession number assigned to each record in the database; also referred to as ERIC Document Number (ED Number) and ERIC Journal Number (EJ Number).ED380096, pp. 1-14.

Schriver, KA 1997, ‘The interplay of words and pictures’, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., Chapter 6, pp.361-441.

Schwalbe, W 2007, Emoticons and Email Ettiquette, abc.net.au, viewed 2nd June 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2064342.htm.