A new study in Israel surveyed 550 people in 29 different countries. And researchers found that when you use emojis at work, it makes you seem incompetent.
People were asked to read a work-related email without knowing who sent it. The body of the email was always the same, but sometimes it included smiley faces.
And when the smiley faces were in there, people rated the person as much less competent than when they just used good old-fashioned words.
The other interesting part is it didn’t affect how friendly people thought the person was. Adding emojis had no effect on the perception of warmth, it just made the person seem less competent.
And you’ll also get better responses if you don’t use emojis. When people had to reply to the email, their response was more detailed and in-depth if the message they were replying to didn’t have emojis in it.
The researchers think it’s probably okay to use emojis with a co-worker you’re good friends with, because they probably won’t judge you for it. Or just play it safe and don’t use them at work.