Flagging and Starring Emails

Good Morning,

I am finding difficulty in working out if the flagging system in Microsoft Outlook and the non-Microsoft email accounts used within the Outlook programme, like Gmail being installed within it as an option, are harming my email communications or harming email communications more generally. The old star system made even negative emails seem positive, while retaining the importance assigned through marking it with the star. It did not detract from its seriousness in my view.

With a red flag, which often associated with danger and anger, it is unclear if my emails are appearing more hostile in a bad and harmful way then intended, because of the red flag. Kinda of like Sebastian Vettel getting angry at red flags in F1 and saying he meant well, but got angered because the colour of anger and danger was used after a crash that was safe, but ruined a car race.

In my context, I am sending strong statements in my e-mails, but I wonder if the red flag takes away the sense of well-intentioned strongness and me trying to get my point across and replaces it with the perception from others that I am being angry, irrational or ill in bad way for all three. And leads to them responding less with a serious solution to problems and makes me less amicable or smart at the same and makes me more likely to misread my or there emails. I wonder if emails can have a settled status and that people reinterpret them constantly, revaluation would probably be good in any case, even while sticking to your core argument.

Anyway, typing this helps me, but I wonder if taking away the red flag would others more and also myself more and replacing it with a positive symbol like a star again, so even aggressive statements would be noticed more and dealt with in a happier fashion. I am sure the red flag in Outlook blinds people from solving issues well-intentions included or not. I felt the exclamation mark worked in the middle, it showed it was about proving a point of importance, looked like it could be difficult, may have caused unnecessary stress. Flagging sounds like you are just saying I am angry and I don't want to listen. The word 'priority' shows you want to get things resolved, but flagging does not.

I wonder if this has any implications for how we perceive geographic flags too. I hope you respond and in my opinion take away the red flag or at least make it so it helps email communications and makes it look less like your accusing everyone you send an email to a criminal including yourself.