Blog FeedThe Emoticon
The other day I sent a text message to a couple of friends. One being very familiar with the internet - a regular MSN user, and another who frankly is a complete computer illiterate. It wasn’t until I’d finished sending the message to both of them that I realised that I had included a :p emoticon, and I wondered if my second friend would have any idea what it was. It got me thinking about how much I take emoticons for granted, and how often I now use them - I never used to, but nowadays anything I type (be it on a keyboard or a keypad) ends up with at least one in there somewhere.
That said, I still have issues with emoticons. One thing I cannot stand is when a person makes a forum post with an emoticon at the end of every line or second sentence. Surely you can’t be going through that many different feelings as you’re typing your post. Or if they’re all the same, surely you only needed to use it once. Used too much they simply get in the way, clutter up the screen, and generally tick me off. A bit like over-the-top avatars. You’re taking a very good idea and using it for something quite different from what it was intended - to gently assist your online communication.
Another thing that has always dumbfounded me is the sheer range of emoticons available on a messaging system like MSN. Why do we need emoticons that are… rainbows? teddy bears? books? Just faces will do, please. Even with faces though, there are just too many unnecessary ones. I have emoticon graphics turned off in Trillian, and it irks me whenever I have to ask “What does %-)$ mean?“, only to find out it was meant to be a small graphic of a yellow smiley face patting his dog. Personally, I don’t see the need for graphics at all - I think text-based ones do everything you need.
Emoticons are great when used well, and by “well” I mean with subtlety. A smiley or a frown here and there can really help people to understand what mood you’re in, and thus how your posts and messages can be interpreted. The limitations we have on the internet without being able to see facial expressions or sometimes detect things like sarcasm makes things like emoticons really come in to their own. =)
22nd July | Reply
I was talking to my wife about sarcasm on the internet, and maybe it’s just a British thing, but I really don’t need the smileys to tell. Perhaps it’s just because us Brits tend to be more sarcastic than most.
The emoticons I hate though, are the animated ones. Those just have no excuse for existing.
22nd July | Reply
Thinking more about it, I suppose sarcasm actually isn’t assisted by emoticons (it more depends on the context of the sentence or phrase for sarcasm), so that’s a bad example. But they do help greatly to communicate the other person’s general mood, or their thoughts on what’s being discussed in the conversation.
Generally in face-to-face conversation, I’m a pretty reserved guy, and I don’t actually give too much in the way of facial expressions. As such, when I use emoticons online, it actually feels to me like I’m using more emphasis that I really intend, but I think it’s actually a good thing. I think I need to smile more.
22nd July | Reply
I never tend to use emoticons in forums, because I never feel the need.
However, on msn I use them quite often (sorry Chris…). And yes, I also use the random ones at various times. There is nothing like a dancing turtle emoticon to make someone feel better. I feel that emoticons can express myself more than words on msn.
22nd July | Reply
Ha! I send chris crazy emoticons over trillian all the time. Just because I know he has them turned off. I shall now invent a secret emoticon language and tell him my deepest darkest secrets but he’ll never know!
The only emoticon I use regularly is
because it can take what may be a mean or insulting post and make it a silly jest.
26th July | Reply
I basically use two emoticons =D and =P.
For a while I used O_o and O_O. I find them funny.