What You Need to Do

Definitions

Emoji are graphic icons, like 😊 for happy face or 🐩 for poodle. Emoticons are made up of punctuation marks, like :) for a happy face or <3 for a heart.

Complete a short survey about the use of emoji (or emoticons) in the workplace, and then consider what the survey results and your experience tell you about how audience and purpose influence when and how people use emoji in professional digital communications.

How This Activity Connects to the Course

Everything that you write in this course (and ultimately in the workplace) depends upon understanding your audience and purpose. I want you to think about how audience and purpose effect when and how you use emoji. It’s a tricky consideration, so it’s a useful one to take on as we kick off the course.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Success Tip

You can use the online texts, any notes that you have, and the available course pages in Canvas for help as you work on these questions. You can also talk to one another.

  1. Read the infographic or its transcript, “Think Emoticons Are NSFW? Think Again” (The original is from Visual.ly).

    Want to know more? Read Emoji in Work Email: Dos and Don’ts and How to Use Emoji in Business Communication, both from Grammarly.

  2. Respond to the Mentimeter “Emoji in the Workplace” Survey. It’s anonymous, but you need to enter your email address at the end to see the survey results.
  3. After you complete the survey, check the current responses. Use the arrows in the lower left corner of the site to scroll through all the questions.
  4. Now that you’ve thought about emoji in the workplace, participate in this Discussion in two or more of the following ways:
    1. Propose a guideline for the use of emoji (and emoticons) in this course or in the workplace (indicate which in your reply). Here are some ideas if you need help getting started:

      • when to use emoji (and when not to)
      • what emoji to use
      • what emoji not to use and why
      • how emoji work in special contexts, such as in bad-news communications or with international audiences
      • what to do if emoji use goes wrong
    2. Reply to a guideline that someone else has posted, either adding on to it, revising it, or suggesting a change or alternative. You can respond in another way if you want. Explain your ideas so that we all understand.
    3. Add at least THREE Likes to posts by other class members. Likes here are just like a Like on social media. You’re agreeing with a class member’s comments without having to say, “I agree.”

Assessment

I will mark your participation in this Discussion Complete (or Incomplete) after the end of the Grace Period passes and I confirm that you have participated in the Discussion in at least two ways. Allow me several days to read and mark all your posts.