4 ms·

I agree. That's like saying one shouldn't smile at work.

by BrandonM 15y ago

corin_ 15y ago
Face-to-face and email is very different in terms of behaviour - or at least it is for some people. In my office swearing is fine, we all do it, and we have plenty of clients in front of whom I would be fine swearing, and they will swear too (obviously not at each other, just in general). Swearing in an email or a letter though, totally unacceptable. Perhaps a better example of the differences is just that, if you meet with a client, even one you don't know well, you don't end with "kind regards" or "yours sincerely". The fact that you do (or at least, might well) in an email/letter doesn't really signify a difference in what you are trying to convey, purely a difference in convention. I have no problem using humour in an email or a letter, that's fine. I guess maybe the reason smileys feel inappropriate is because they are so associated with children. Sure, adults use them, but they started among young people, and they will forever (I think, but at least still today) remain more popular among younger age groups. When chatting through IM software it feels fine to throw off adulthood, when talking to friends I might sometimes open with something I'd be far too embarassed to actually say in real life, such as "waddup bitch". Email, for me, is a high-tech version of the letter, not a high-tech version of face-to-face.
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  For the record, they didn't start among young people. Emoticons were in use on the Internet before I got online in 1990. Kids ran with them because they want people to know what they are feeling and the feeling they are trying to portray, which can be nearly impossible to do in reasonably succinct writing. An occasional emoticon can be useful, but it is easy to over do it. If I see five, I think "immature". If i see one, I don't think anything.

4 ms·

I agree. That's like saying one shouldn't smile at work.

by BrandonM 15y ago

I agree. That's like saying one shouldn't smile at work.

corin_ 15y ago
Face-to-face and email is very different in terms of behaviour - or at least it is for some people. In my office swearing is fine, we all do it, and we have plenty of clients in front of whom I would be fine swearing, and they will swear too (obviously not at each other, just in general). Swearing in an email or a letter though, totally unacceptable. Perhaps a better example of the differences is just that, if you meet with a client, even one you don't know well, you don't end with "kind regards" or "yours sincerely". The fact that you do (or at least, might well) in an email/letter doesn't really signify a difference in what you are trying to convey, purely a difference in convention. I have no problem using humour in an email or a letter, that's fine. I guess maybe the reason smileys feel inappropriate is because they are so associated with children. Sure, adults use them, but they started among young people, and they will forever (I think, but at least still today) remain more popular among younger age groups. When chatting through IM software it feels fine to throw off adulthood, when talking to friends I might sometimes open with something I'd be far too embarassed to actually say in real life, such as "waddup bitch". Email, for me, is a high-tech version of the letter, not a high-tech version of face-to-face.
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  For the record, they didn't start among young people. Emoticons were in use on the Internet before I got online in 1990. Kids ran with them because they want people to know what they are feeling and the feeling they are trying to portray, which can be nearly impossible to do in reasonably succinct writing. An occasional emoticon can be useful, but it is easy to over do it. If I see five, I think "immature". If i see one, I don't think anything.