I’m pretty sure that you, dear reader, have used emoticons in the majority of conversations you’ve made towards your friends. But of course there are times when we have to regulate our use of Skype emoticons, not that they are a bad thing but it’s just that emoticons aren’t really appropriate in each and every conversation we’ll make.
Here are some tips on how to properly utilize those cute little faces:
1) Take note of your relationship towards
the person you’re talking to. If he or she is a close friend, then you may use emoticons to your heart’s content. But in a professional level, you might want to use those friendly faces a bit less when you’re talking to co-workers that you’re not that close with. And if you are talking to your superior, you really shouldn’t use even a simple smiling face since you are not on equal footing.
2) Try not to put a smiley face on every line of text you send, again if it isn’t a close friend you’re talking to. A smile when you greet him / her then another when you say goodbye, that frugal use of emoticon won’t hurt.
3) You may also use a smiley face when you’re sharing good news, or when you’re telling the other person about something awesome you just discovered. A good example would be, “I’m using an awesome Skype video call recorder. If you want to check it out, go to www.supertintin.com”
4) It would be best if you only use positive emoticons since they are taken more seriously than their negative counterparts. Who would even believe that you’re seriously displeased towards something when you use a L on your line of text?
5) Emoticons can be used as “shortcuts” to the things that you would like to say. Like for example, using the emoticon (hi) will show a smiley face with a waving hand meaning a friendly greeting. Or you can use (call) to show a face doing the shaka sign, meaning that you would want to continue the conversation on a call.
Emoticons are a great way to show your feelings in a setting that is mostly devoid of emotion. One smiling face can brighten up the conversation between you and your friends, especially after a long and tough day. But, just like wearing a jacket, emoticons aren’t meant to be used on every conversation on every person every single day.
So fire up your Skype and greet that friend of yours with a big and wide digital grin. Who knows, it might actually make him / her smile!
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