{"id":4002,"date":"2025-05-07T19:58:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T19:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=4002"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:40:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:40:50","slug":"why-email-jokes-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-email-jokes-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Email Jokes Fail"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\n

Most people seem confident in their ability to get their point across in emails. Few realize that writing an email is actually a minefield, and common errors can blow up in the sender\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

Academy of Management Scholar Kris Byron<\/a> of Georgia State University said it\u2019s important to remember your audience, especially if you\u2019re trying to be funny or ironic. She published a research article on this topic in Academy of Management Review<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope that the people who I communicate with the most know I\u2019m a sarcastic person; I joke around a lot, but I still try to make sure that there\u2019s little ways indicating that,\u201d Byron said. \u201cIf I am joking around, I\u2019ll try to make sure they know; I might even just say, \u2018Of course, I\u2019m just joking,\u2019 or I’ll add a smiley face or another emoji just to make sure that people know that I\u2019m joking it or being sarcastic.<\/p>\n

Including humor, irony, or sarcasm in an email can be risky, especially for work-related messages. Depending on the stakes and how well you know the recipient, it may not be worth the risk of being misunderstood and potentially offending that person.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t know a person really well and you\u2019re sending them an email, then usually I would not even try to be sarcastic or funny, just because they don\u2019t know you, and they don’t have a way to tell from your facial expression or tone of voice if you\u2019re joking,\u201d Byron said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have the context or knowledge about you\u2014they lack sufficient personalized information about you to know how to interpret it, and they might not appreciate your sense of humor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get it: Everyone is not everyone else\u2019s cup of tea, so you have to proceed with caution when making a joke or using sarcasm,\u201d she said. \u201cI do think that you want to be careful\u2014if you don\u2019t know someone, I would not try to attempt humor generally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the big takeaway: Know your audience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher Most people seem confident in their ability to get their point across in emails. Few realize that writing an email is actually a minefield, and common errors can blow up in the sender\u2019s face. 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Few realize that writing an email is actually a minefield, and common errors can blow up in the sender\u2019s face. 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