Smileys Should Ring an Alarm

Everything you say in an email that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood, that's for sure. Smileys, even winking ones, don't help that at all.

Smileys Should Ring an Alarm

So every winking smiley you are tempted to insert should ring an alarm, and you should check for possible misinterpretations that are not funny. Ask yourself:

• Do I know the recipient well enough that she will understand my sarcastic comment?
  Then it's perfectly okay to make it, but then the smiley is probably not necessary.
• Can I reformulate my message to be less ambiguous?
  It doesn't matter if that makes the mail longer or less witty. Better safe than witty (sometimes, at least)!