A smiley is not a smile: the perils of work emails

SAN FRANCISCO - Contrary to actual smiles, using smileys in work emails does not increase perception of warmth but may leave an impression of incompetence, according to a study.

As emoticons are increasingly used as a substitute for words in text messages, chat apps and even emails, researchers from Israel and the Netherlands conducted the research that branded itself as "the first systematic investigation of the effects of smileys on first impression formations in work settings".

"I was very optimistic about the positive power of emoticons. But our initial results surprised me," said Ella Glikson, an author of the study from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel.