Effective Business Communications: The Use of Emoticons in Messages

This essay explores the use of emoticons in modern business communication, highlighting their potential positive impact on understanding emotional states in casual messaging while cautioning against their use in professional contexts such as job applications. It argues that emoticons can add a sense of fun and sarcasm to personal chats, enhancing communication, but are inappropriate in formal settings where clarity and professionalism are paramount. The essay emphasizes the importance of differentiating between personal and professional communication styles, suggesting that organizational managers expect formal, well-written applications devoid of emoticons to ensure seriousness and clarity of intent. Ultimately, the analysis underscores the need for careful consideration of the communication context to maintain professional standards.

Running head: EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS
Effective Business Communications
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS
Table of contents
Use of emoticons in messages....................................................................................................2
Use of emoticon in job applications...........................................................................................2
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................4

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Use of emoticons in messages
Modern day communication is done by using social media. Unlike in the earlier days,
the use of telephones for communication has started to cease (Campbell, Martin & Fabos,
2014, p.66). People make calls only for urgent purposes. However, with the advent of social
media, people indulge in sending messages via Facebook and WhatsApp. Hence, it is difficult
for people to identify the emotional state of the person sending the messages. However, the
use of an emoticon in messages can have a positive impact on people. This is mainly because
the use of emoticon can help people to understand the funny side of the people sending the
message. This is evidenced by the fact that emoticons had been made for entertaining people.
The reason behind the positivity of the use of emoticon is the fact that the manner in
which the animations are made makes a person feel satisfied (Dunlap et al., 2015, p.163). It
has been seen that different social media have different ways in which the emoticons are
created. Some of them are created by animation that makes the emoticons feel alive. Thus,
sending an emoticon along with a message can help to cheer up an individual. Emoticon can
help in understanding an emotional state of a person (Chaney & Martin, 2013, p.76).
However, an individual need to be aware of the type of emoticon that is sent and the place in
which it is sent. Hence, the use of emoticon as an item of communication can be considered
as a positive factor.
Use of emoticon in job applications
As mentioned earlier, the proper use of emoticon needs to be judged by the people
before sending it. Using emoticon in personalised chats is acceptable as it helps to bring
about a sense of sarcasm and fun in the messages. However, the use of emoticon while
communicating in a professional manner is inappropriate. The best mode of communication

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in a professional manner is by directly being in contact with the person (Beebe & Mottet,
2013, p.112). In this regard, it can be said that in the case of sending a professional email the
use of emoticon cannot be considered as a professional mode of communication. The fact that
it is used to make job application can be heavily criticised.
Job application needs to be done by following the strict procedure as mentioned in
writing letters. The language and message need to be clear so that the purpose of the job
applicant can be understood. An organisational manager expects this type of letter to be
submitted by the applicants (Bargiela-Chiappini & Nickerson, 2014, p.90). Hence, the use of
an emoticon in such applications cannot be entertained. This is because individuals need to
take job applications seriously and must provide an email being strictly professional. It is the
basic understanding of the individual to differentiate between a personal email and a
professional email (Church & de Oliveira, 2013, p.352). Thus, the reaction of the manager
needs to be shocking as such gestures are unacceptable in a professional level
communication.

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Bibliography
Bargiela-Chiappini, F., & Nickerson, C. R. (2014). Writing business: Genres, media and
discourses. Routledge.
Beebe, S. A., & Mottet, T. P. (2013). Business and professional communication: Principles
and skills for leadership. Pearson.
Campbell, R., Martin, C., & Fabos, B. (2014). Media & culture: Mass communication in a
digital age. Bedford/St. Martin's.
Chaney, L., & Martin, J. (2013). Intercultural business communication. Pearson Higher Ed.
Church, K., & de Oliveira, R. (2013). What's up with whatsapp?: comparing mobile instant
messaging behaviors with traditional SMS. In Proceedings of the 15th international
conference on Human-computer interaction with mobile devices and services (pp.
352-361). ACM.
Dunlap, J. C., Bose, D., Lowenthal, P. R., York, C. S., Atkinson, M., & Murtagh, J. (2015).
What sunshine is to flowers: A literature review on the use of emoticons to support
online learning. Emotions, technology, design, and learning, 163.