Computer Mediated Communication Paper

In the world of evolving computer mediated communications, businesses have adopted the use of emails to transfer information, from business-to-business and business-to-employees, both internally and externally. With the progression in technology, the range of emojis has expanded in variety and availability, and broadly includes the term emoticons, nowadays both commonly referring to the series of graphics-based symbols used in digital messaging, which have become prevalent in modern business environments. Emojis can assist in the expression of concepts in emails as they can mimic non-verbal cues (such as a tone of voice) to indicate a positive attitude and can act as a softener to messages that may otherwise have a harsh tone. However, the
Businesses use computer mediated communication to communicate both internally with employees and co-workers, as well as with external businesses and people associated with the company’s activities. Emoticons do not only indicate the writer’s emotions, but can also give further information on what a written message is expressing and can create a positive, softer tone within an email. (Skovholt, Grønning and Kankaanranta 2014, p. 793) illustrate that emojis are multifunctional and can reduce social distance between work colleagues, due to the friendly and personal manner of the email, created by the inclusion of a simple smiley face emoji. As emojis represent an attitude or correlating emotions in written communication, a smiley face can promote a positive quality in business communication. As a result of this, interpersonal relationships between co-workers are likely to be strengthened, as a positive aura between correspondents can reduce social distance and encourage stronger bonds. However, studies undertaken by (Skovholt, Grønning and Kankaanranta 2014) showed that out of a sample of 100 business communication emails, emoticons were not used in the category of business impersonal (to recipients unknown by the sender), however were used in 7% of the business personal emails (recipients known to the sender), demonstrating that emojis
There have been proposals for a set standard to which business emails should adhere to, to keep a professional standard of communications, whether in personal or impersonal emails. As the use of emails has become widespread in the workplace, it is growing increasingly important to adhere to the societally accepted idea of netiquette (Spinks, Wells and Meche 1999). Computer mediated communication is used both for internal and external business correspondence, and is related to the company’s reputation and activities at all times. With the concept of formal ‘netiquette’, rather than relying on emojis to convey a message, a better approach to composing business emails should be to write clearer and more tactful emails, to therefore eliminate the need for the use of an emoji, as emojis are likely to be misinterpreted depending on the receiver of the message. As a rule of thumb, business emails should always carry a professional tone, as they can be forwarded to anyone within or outside the