Do you use emoticons in work e-mail?
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@Carnival-Boy said:
I don't see them a lot. I suspect it's a British vs American thing. We've only recently started calling each other by out first names rather than our surnames.
That doesn't surprise me. Americans tend to be very informal, especially in the north where the bulk of the technology and business are.
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I'm American, and I very rarely use emoticons in business emails. Very occasionally I will throw a smiley at the end of an email to a co-worker if our email thread has taken a turn for the casual. Like Carnival Boy, my emails can seem harsh or critical when I don't mean them to be and I try to soften them with pleasantries in the greeting and conclusion. I tend to use (but not overuse) the exclamation point as my emoticon; "Can you do this thing for me? Thank you!" seems less cranky to me than, "Can you do this thing for me? Thanks." I do use emoticons when I'm IMing or texting co-workers, but never clients or partners.
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Outside the workplace: No
- Unless I am on very good terms with the other person.
Inside the company: Yes.
- However I don't include them on every email. Usually when I make a joke or need to lighten the mood.
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I don't. It's been considered unprofessional most places I've worked. The Town government it wasn't a big deal though. We did jokes and what not over lync all the time. At the County Government that was much different. Something like that would get put on your review as unprofessional communication under the communication section of your review.
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They have been failry common in places that I have worked. I have worked mostly with women in my IT career (various health facilities, schools, and banking) which tend to use emoticons more frequently than men.
I would say at least 50% of employees use them and probably 25% of vendors.
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@scottalanmiller said:
I use them all the time in work email. Been using them since the early 1990s so they seem natural now. I expect to see them in work email.
Ditto. I don't see it as unprofesional, but I don't do too many when I email people professionally outside of work, but sometimes I will do one if I want to make sure the other person knows something is said in jest or not sarcasm, or something like that.
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yeah. i use em
and i'll use you too 
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@Hubtech said:
What is that?
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I was wondering that too.
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It is
Colon O Colon
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I do but usually more on internal communications than external ones.
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If I do it's usually just a smiley face. Anything else might be inappropriate.
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Depends who I am connecting with, if I know the person well I might use them otherwise not so much.
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I use them for internal communications. As others have mentioned, I only use it with external communications if I know the other party very well.
Posting in a forum almost requires their use to keep people from getting butt hurt over people sounding to harsh
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(F moderated) yeah, I use them!
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