15 ms·

When you're writing small, short sentences, there is something off putting about periods. It's just part of the how text based communication has become. Emojis

When you're writing small, short sentences, there is something off putting about periods. It's just part of the how text based communication has become. Emojis are good because words can be interpreted with a tone that was unintended, and can lead to all sorts of communication problems. It's small and simple, but an appropriate emoji helps convey our emotions in a way that is more difficult to in short, text based messages. I agree about rapid short messages, I hate receiving 8 notifications about 1 short paragraph of text.

Bedon292 6y ago
I always attempt to write, even on Slack or other chat programs, in such a way that no unintended tone comes across. To me it feels like I have failed in communicating if an emoji is necessary to convey a message. I honestly cannot think of anywhere I could use them to make a message clearer. But, I will be asking a few folks if there is an issue with my communication, and if I can be more clear in any way. Including the use of emoji. To me, it also feels less professional, but this thread has opened my eyes to this bias I have. So I am going to attempt to make less of a judgement on this moving forward.
- jay_kyburz 6y ago
  I agree, I think the only appropriate time for an emoji is to acknowledge somebodies else's message but you don't have anything you want to say. A thumbs up or a celebrate.
  - stu2b50 6y ago
    I disagree, I think there's many times where a statement can clearly seem hostile, or jovial, at the same time, and adding some emojis to lean towards jovial will make it a 100% safe message. Sure, you can add context in other ways, but it's quick, easy, and effective. Is it unprofessional? Perhaps in an email, but I don't consider every slack message something that should be "professional" in tone. You don't speak professionally to every person IRL (or, at least I hope you don't).
    - Twisol 6y ago
      I have a small group of emoji that I turn to for this kind of color. :sweat_smile: for a note of self-aware awkwardness. :thinking: when I'm posing an idea without standing behind it too hard, or when my thoughts are continuing beyond the message I've just sent. A few others are not uncommon, but more situational. (I'm using their Slack codes here, since I'm not sure I can just embed them directly in an HN comment...) I tend to come across in text as very detail-oriented and precise, so some careful emoji usage helps recover some of the consideration that would normally be carried by tone or body language.
      - adjkant 6y ago
        This type of use is exactly what I was talking about in my original post. It does wonders for positive communication. Even if some don't see the need for it, as the article discusses, you need to consider your full audience!
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
- tashoecraft 6y ago
  I think with just the shear amount of messaging that is occurring in todays age combined with the lines being blurred between work and home makes communication rapidly evolve. What one things is clear communication with no ambiguity, another might disagree. An example is responding back to a message with "Ok.". I see many over, say, 50 do this much more often, but to many under, say 30, this is taken as very passive aggressive.
  - neodymiumphish 6y ago
    To be fair, I'm over 30 and I'd wonder whether "Ok." was passive aggressive in-person or online.
    - Aeolun 6y ago
      It’s a tone of voice thing I think.
  - elwell 6y ago
    > An example is responding back to a message with "Ok.". I see many over, say, 50 do this much more often, but to many under, say 30, this is taken as very passive aggressive. Definitely have experienced this. > shear sheer > What one things is clear communication with no ambiguity, another might disagree. thinks > todays today's > age combined with the lines being blurred between work and home makes age, combined with the lines being blurred between work and home, makes > I think with just the... ...makes communication rapidly evolve I think just the... ...makes communication rapidly evolve > over, say, 50 do / under, say 30, this over, say, 50 do / under, say, 30 this > passive aggressive passive-aggressive
    - scubbo 6y ago
      > passive-aggressive Well, you weren't lying...
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
- ghaff 6y ago
  I mostly just use the 3 or 4 "base" emojis. But, particularly in relatively terse emails/messages, I think it's often useful to indicate that you don't intend to be taken literally/totally seriously/etc. I suppose that you can just avoid making flippant remarks and such but that's not the way most people communicate casually in person.
- pikelet 6y ago
  Just remember that beyond words, our expressions, gestures, and tone, are all important parts of effective human communication, and text lacks all of that. Subtlety in meaning or intent can change while still using the same words. Slack isn't formal writing, it's more casual communication between humans, and emojis just make it all a little less ambiguous. I certainly agree that you should try to be as clear as possible, and that overuse of emojis can be tiresome, but there are definitely situations where a simple emoji or two can make all the difference in how your words are perceived.
- conradev 6y ago
  Comparing Slack to email, in an email I generally provide a feedback sandwich: start with a positive note or warm introduction, transition into a call to action with explanatory details, and again end on a positive note. In Slack I find that I can use emoji in lieu of some of the positivity, if that makes sense. If I have any takeaway from this conversation it is that I should use _more_ emoji simply because a lot of emotional context is being lost through the internet. I feel like this is especially important because I manage people and my tone can really matter.
Jedd 6y ago
> When you're writing small, short sentences, there is something off putting about periods. Well, that may be the case for some people, but I am not convinced it's the general case. Also, how do you write (delineate, identify, etc) small, short sentences without periods? I'm assuming people in a hurry - that don't have time for punctuation - do have time for tautological constructs? (small, short) ; )
- neodymiumphish 6y ago
  I see it done that way a lot where each small sentence is its own message. Even more annoyingly, they often do it in a main channel on Slack after the message they're responding to, instead of "replying in thread".
  - mjayhn 6y ago
    Purely anecdotal but I think it’s from irc/aim users (a lot of millennials/genx including myself) since long form communication wasn’t really a thing on there. I see some people write paragraphs as messages on discord servers and iirc that wasn’t technically even possible on irc and I feel like it’s even strange to see in the middle of lighter chatter. Also slack threads are awful, imo. I can appreciate them in certain contexts like asking what tool everyone likes or where to grab dinner, but if your slack has become a place where complicated tech answers wind up in threads it makes searching so frustrating just due to the UX. Also they’re limited, or were, on features (code blocks never looked right, etc). I HATED when outages wound up in a slack thread and not a room which was too frequent at my last employer. That #tagging/#threading feature available on the other slack/discord/teams competitor I can’t think of right now is something I really want. I have to pay attention to not treating slack like irc quite a bit.
    - Twisol 6y ago
      > That #tagging/#threading feature available on the other slack/discord/teams competitor I can’t think of right now is something I really want. Zulip, by any chance?

Bedon292 6y ago

I always attempt to write, even on Slack or other chat programs, in such a way that no unintended tone comes across. To me it feels like I have failed in communicating if an emoji is necessary to convey a message. I honestly cannot think of anywhere I could use them to make a message clearer. But, I will be asking a few folks if there is an issue with my communication, and if I can be more clear in any way. Including the use of emoji. To me, it also feels less professional, but this thread has opened my eyes to this bias I have. So I am going to attempt to make less of a judgement on this moving forward.

jay_kyburz 6y ago
I agree, I think the only appropriate time for an emoji is to acknowledge somebodies else's message but you don't have anything you want to say. A thumbs up or a celebrate.
- stu2b50 6y ago
  I disagree, I think there's many times where a statement can clearly seem hostile, or jovial, at the same time, and adding some emojis to lean towards jovial will make it a 100% safe message. Sure, you can add context in other ways, but it's quick, easy, and effective. Is it unprofessional? Perhaps in an email, but I don't consider every slack message something that should be "professional" in tone. You don't speak professionally to every person IRL (or, at least I hope you don't).
  - Twisol 6y ago
    I have a small group of emoji that I turn to for this kind of color. :sweat_smile: for a note of self-aware awkwardness. :thinking: when I'm posing an idea without standing behind it too hard, or when my thoughts are continuing beyond the message I've just sent. A few others are not uncommon, but more situational. (I'm using their Slack codes here, since I'm not sure I can just embed them directly in an HN comment...) I tend to come across in text as very detail-oriented and precise, so some careful emoji usage helps recover some of the consideration that would normally be carried by tone or body language.
    - adjkant 6y ago
      This type of use is exactly what I was talking about in my original post. It does wonders for positive communication. Even if some don't see the need for it, as the article discusses, you need to consider your full audience!
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
tashoecraft 6y ago
I think with just the shear amount of messaging that is occurring in todays age combined with the lines being blurred between work and home makes communication rapidly evolve. What one things is clear communication with no ambiguity, another might disagree. An example is responding back to a message with "Ok.". I see many over, say, 50 do this much more often, but to many under, say 30, this is taken as very passive aggressive.
- neodymiumphish 6y ago
  To be fair, I'm over 30 and I'd wonder whether "Ok." was passive aggressive in-person or online.
  - Aeolun 6y ago
    It’s a tone of voice thing I think.
- elwell 6y ago
  > An example is responding back to a message with "Ok.". I see many over, say, 50 do this much more often, but to many under, say 30, this is taken as very passive aggressive. Definitely have experienced this. > shear sheer > What one things is clear communication with no ambiguity, another might disagree. thinks > todays today's > age combined with the lines being blurred between work and home makes age, combined with the lines being blurred between work and home, makes > I think with just the... ...makes communication rapidly evolve I think just the... ...makes communication rapidly evolve > over, say, 50 do / under, say 30, this over, say, 50 do / under, say, 30 this > passive aggressive passive-aggressive
  - scubbo 6y ago
    > passive-aggressive Well, you weren't lying...
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
ghaff 6y ago
I mostly just use the 3 or 4 "base" emojis. But, particularly in relatively terse emails/messages, I think it's often useful to indicate that you don't intend to be taken literally/totally seriously/etc. I suppose that you can just avoid making flippant remarks and such but that's not the way most people communicate casually in person.
pikelet 6y ago
Just remember that beyond words, our expressions, gestures, and tone, are all important parts of effective human communication, and text lacks all of that. Subtlety in meaning or intent can change while still using the same words. Slack isn't formal writing, it's more casual communication between humans, and emojis just make it all a little less ambiguous. I certainly agree that you should try to be as clear as possible, and that overuse of emojis can be tiresome, but there are definitely situations where a simple emoji or two can make all the difference in how your words are perceived.
conradev 6y ago
Comparing Slack to email, in an email I generally provide a feedback sandwich: start with a positive note or warm introduction, transition into a call to action with explanatory details, and again end on a positive note. In Slack I find that I can use emoji in lieu of some of the positivity, if that makes sense. If I have any takeaway from this conversation it is that I should use _more_ emoji simply because a lot of emotional context is being lost through the internet. I feel like this is especially important because I manage people and my tone can really matter.

Jedd 6y ago

> When you're writing small, short sentences, there is something off putting about periods. Well, that may be the case for some people, but I am not convinced it's the general case. Also, how do you write (delineate, identify, etc) small, short sentences without periods? I'm assuming people in a hurry - that don't have time for punctuation - do have time for tautological constructs? (small, short) ; )

neodymiumphish 6y ago
I see it done that way a lot where each small sentence is its own message. Even more annoyingly, they often do it in a main channel on Slack after the message they're responding to, instead of "replying in thread".
- mjayhn 6y ago
  Purely anecdotal but I think it’s from irc/aim users (a lot of millennials/genx including myself) since long form communication wasn’t really a thing on there. I see some people write paragraphs as messages on discord servers and iirc that wasn’t technically even possible on irc and I feel like it’s even strange to see in the middle of lighter chatter. Also slack threads are awful, imo. I can appreciate them in certain contexts like asking what tool everyone likes or where to grab dinner, but if your slack has become a place where complicated tech answers wind up in threads it makes searching so frustrating just due to the UX. Also they’re limited, or were, on features (code blocks never looked right, etc). I HATED when outages wound up in a slack thread and not a room which was too frequent at my last employer. That #tagging/#threading feature available on the other slack/discord/teams competitor I can’t think of right now is something I really want. I have to pay attention to not treating slack like irc quite a bit.
  - Twisol 6y ago
    > That #tagging/#threading feature available on the other slack/discord/teams competitor I can’t think of right now is something I really want. Zulip, by any chance?