They are identical except for the use of exclamation points and emoticons: In most cases, you can create a more positive customer experience simply by dressing up your communication with punctuation.Ĭonsider the following two support emails. – JAIS Fact #4: Research shows that experts in a subject matter who use emoticons are perceived as more “friendly and competent” than those who don’t. Our results suggest that using liking emoticons increases perceived good intention of the feedback provider and decreases perceived feedback negativity when the feedback is specific. – Simo Tchokni, The Computer Laboratory University of Cambridge UK Fact #3: Studies on workplace communication show that when specific, negative feedback from a superior comes with positive emoticons, employees are more likely to feel good about the message and more likely to make the changes asked of them. Powerful users tend to use emoticons often and high Klout is strongly associated with positive emoticons. The emoticon features achieved high performance, suggesting that there is a strong link between emoticon use and social power.

→Why might this make a difference when it comes to social media and marketing?īecause human faces are so particularly compelling, attention-grabbing mechanisms.įact #2: An analysis of more than 31 million tweets and half a million Facebook posts uncovered the fact that positive emoticons can be a social media status marker. However, if you’re not sold yet because of your skepticism, here are four scientifically-proven facts to ponder: Fact #1: Scientists have discovered that when we look at a smiley face online, the same very specific parts of the brain are activated as when we look at a real human face. This post contains fun links to some of the best emoticon directories we found including Skype, Slack, and Pokemon Go – who knew! Do you speak emoticon? Or, are you one of those who thinks using emoticons in business communications and social media is unprofessional and consequently, a bad idea? Think again.

Facebook shortcuts for smileys