Joy Journal

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The Power of the Emoji

A Technique to Improve Clarity

I was reading an article recently that talked about the growing misunderstanding between sender and receiver of electronic messages. People think that others understand their messages correctly 90% of the time, but, in reality, it’s only 50%.

While this fact is not new to me, the example they give is striking. “Recipients of a two-word email or text such as “nice job” or “great work” interpret the message as sarcastic 60% of the time.” Geez, tough crowd.

But, as I think more about it, the statistic nor the example should be surprising. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to view messages negatively when they aren’t clear (remember that pesky negativity bias?). And, as I like to tell people, in the absence of information, people tend to make stuff up…and it isn’t typically positive.

So, what do we do?

Now, don’t laugh, but emojis have paved the way for increased understanding for electronic messages, especially for tone. According to a study conducted by Adobe, when emojis are used at work, the majority of emoji users feel they positively impact likability (78%) and credibility (63%). And over 90% of emoji users agree emojis lighten the mood and show support. There is even an Emojipedia if you need help selecting the perfect emoji for any situation.