Emoticons: love 'em or hate 'em?

Asked by StephenW (6

) July 16th, 2007

I'm a writer for a national publication working on a story about emoticons and how they continue to evolve as a part of everyday adult communication--even in sensitive areas like work and romance? I'd love to hear your anecdotes of a time an emoticon helped you win someone over, or a time when the use of one ended up being embarassing. The more amusing, and detailed, the better. I can furnish more details about my story and my publication when we speak. Thanks.

Observing members: 0

Composing members: 0

4 Answers

I love emoticons. I feel like the internet is very impersonal sometimes and the use of :-D conveys a little bit of personality. A lot of times, it is hard to tell whether someone is being serious or funny over the web and emoticons can clarify. I have accidentally used a ;-) in a paper once to convey that I was being sarcastic. The professor actually commented on this and mentioned that when he read it he thought I was being serious until he saw the ;-) and realised that my argument was more complex, because it was sarcastic.

I also use the @->-- rose occasionally when talking to females. It's usually enough to elict a smile, which is usually all I'm going for.

Good luck on this! :-)

Perchik (5002

)“Great Answer” (0

) Flag as…

I hate image emoticons, and turn them off in every application I use in which I can do so. They're horribly designed and do not at all mesh with the content in 99% of cases. Textual emoticons are nearly the same for me, if only because when I send :) I know that half the time the person on the other end is being forced to look at some yellow abomination.

I, personally, use backwards emoticons to prevent this d-:

elliottcable (141

)“Great Answer” (2

) Flag as…