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September 19, 2002
This man has done so much to make so many so happy. And so annoyed. My general feeling about emoticons is that every once in a very long while, they're useful. The rest of the time, they're flotsam. After all, I don't wink or say "Ho-ho-ho, just kidding!" every time I say anything sarcastic in conversation. Can you imagine if I did? It would take me even longer to say everything than it already does. Posted by Alison-Jane at September 19, 2002 06:41 AMComments
While I agree with you, in general, regarding emoticons and what their effect would be in real life, I disagree with regards to their use in e-mails and on the web. The problem with this form of written communication is two-fold. First, there's no other information provided to you, the reader, about the writer than the words they're putting out there. Most of the time, I see a smiley (smilie? smillie? Wha?) as the writer's body language, so that I get a gist of what they're trying to express, overall. Second, because so much of our communication over the Web is spontaneous in nature, it's VERY easy to insult someone unintentionally, because you don't have that added vocal inflection/body language thing going on to soften the tone of what you're saying, if it's something nasty said in an affectionate way. However, I will back you one hundred percent if you decide to put out a campaign to get rid of those ridiculous 20-character things that are just pointless and annoying to type. I like my 2-character ;)s, thank you very much. Posted by: RedBearDave on September 19, 2002 05:06 PMPost a comment
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