To Emoji Or Not To Emoji: TikTokers Discuss Their Corporate Email Styles

Katharina Buczek |

Jul 5, 2022

Entering the corporate world can be intimidating. You might be stressed about your company’s culture, unsure if your wardrobe is their definition of “business-casual,” or just worried about finding your groove.

But no matter who you are, if you work in corporate, then you have had to decide on your “email style.”

What is your go-to greeting and closer? Do you use periods, exclamation points, or a mix of the two? And are you an “emoji person?”

There are no hard and fast rules to conquering the corporate email game. But, one TikToker named Hattie has suggested that mirroring your coworkers’ email style is the way to go.

“POV: You’re a corporate twenty-something who doesn’t put a blushing face after everything, and instead just copies how your coworkers’ message,” Hattie wrote in her now-viral TikTok.

She also shared some screenshots of herself bluntly messaging things such as “I have no clue” and “works for me.”

The video reached 1.6 million people, gained seventy-seven thousand likes, and prompted hundreds of comments about how to best email in corporate America.

Some users completely relate to Hattie and play off of their coworkers’ energy.

TikTok; pictured above is Hattie in her video

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“Yes!! This is me in real estate with my team and other realtors. I text depending on how they text,” wrote one user.

“I started doing this, and it feels so liberating!” agreed a second user.

“Facts, all the blushy faces and exclamation points scream insecurity to me,” added a third.

But, other TikTokers completely disagreed.

“I have never sent a message without a smiley face or exclamation mark,” shared one user.

“Nope, my emojis are my friends, and I will wish everybody well in my emails because caring matters!” wrote a second commenter.

“I think everyone else should be upping their game and adding smileys and exclamation points because corporate life is dull and lifeless enough,” said a third user.

What do you think? Is communicating with some emojis and exclamation points unprofessional or forced? Or is it just a way to spice up day-to-day work communications?

And to watch Hattie’s original TikTok, visit the link here.