If you are a teen talking to your cohort, they may not heed much to the emojis rolling out on WhatsApp. But the story differs when it comes to more grown-up interactions guided by formal protocol. If your boss forwards a joke to you, a crazy eye emoji may be safely replaced with smile.
Hand Emojis are the safest route while communicating with colleagues.
While the fist bump conveys approval, the raised hands with little marks between them signals cheering or raising the roof. So while face emojis may convey mixed singles, hand emojis are a safe way to go.
Emojis that are lost in translation
Some emojis are contextual among cultures and conversations. It is best to avoid them with infrequent chatters on your wall. For instance, while the poo emoji may seem obvious, some mothers use it to mean chocolate ice-cream! The upward eyes can mean exasperation to “I don’t know”. It is a wonder how such conversations would shape up.
According to Hannah Miller of the University of Minnesota, while emojis have low variance in their sentiment interpretation, they is confusion across groups whether a particular emoji is positive, negative or neutral. So the confusion is rooted in contextual translation and lack of previous reference. This can take a toll on conversations with colleagues, a situation demanding more established and accepted responses.
While the cute monkey with closed eyes is one of Gandhi’s three monkeys, it has come to mean acceptance of mistake. The fire emoji may mean something hot and happening or a burning urgent situation.
(Image Source:youtube.com)
The most pertinent question is also the shade of colour to use in emojis. Balancing political correctness with pedantic displays, the best thing to do is: when in doubt, pick yellow.
The easiest route would be to reply to someone with the emojis they themselves use. And keep emojis to minimum. Use words at work.
