What Is A Smiley And When Should They Be Used

One way to add a personal touch to your communications is to add smileys to them. You can personalize each one of your messages and make sure that the person that is receiving your communications understands the tone and emotion that the message was written with. Having the person that is receiving the message misunderstand the message's meaning can happen quite easily especially if you are trying to incorporate sarcasms into the email, IM, or text message.

A smiley is, simply put, a smiley face icon that can either be flat or animated and it is used to convey the emotions used in your letters. So when you are attempting to convey emotion it is very easy to add these smileys to your letters. You can go on the web and find many websites that will allow you to download as many of these icons as you would like free of charge. Most websites just ask for permission to download a tool bar in exchange for the service. Then you are free to download them as often as you like.

These types of communication tools are great for making personal communication livelier and personable however they should not be used during business communications. As we have increased the reasons we communicate on the web a new set of etiquette rules has also emerge and it is simply referred to as "web etiquette." This is basically what is accepted as good manners while being on the web and currently incorporating smileys into business communication is bad etiquette.

Including a smiley icon of any type should be avoided during all business and formal communication. This includes all email communications, IMs or text messaging. Many business owners frown on having any business related communication include these icons and it has a tendency to look unprofessional.

However when you are using them for personal reasons they are a lot of fun and you can find a smiley doing almost anything. For example many of the smileys that are available actually do things such as blow kisses, or wave. This is a great way to end your note and let the recipient know that this is a happy communication.

If you are sending a personal note and you want to convey a not so happy mood you can also find them with red faces or even scrunched up faces. With these icons there is no doubt what sort of mood you are in or what the tone of the note you are sending is. You can also find these icons in all types of characters such as sport smiling faces.

Some of the website will also offer you the chance to create your own. They will show you how to write the necessary HML to do your own. Some of the new icons also come with sound which can really spice up your personal communications. So when you want to add your own flair to your emails, IMs, or text messages use some smiley icons, however remember that in the work place they are not yet as acceptable.