Does anybody else just despise emoticons?

[chadachada123]

snip

Considering text doesn't have nearly as much explanatory power as the spoken word, especially in person, with facial expressions and subtle differences in tone being equally important, if not more so, than the words themselves...

I'm going to have to disagree. I find that using emoticons in texts and over Facebook a great way to establish whether or not you're being playful, serious, tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, etc. There's no other way to even come close to imitating the subtleties of human interaction.

Edit: That isn't to say that they can't be extremely annoying if used too often or in the wrong way, only that they have a plethora of uses, that vary depending on who you're talking to.

 

[concrete89]

They help people who are bad at expressing themselves to express their emotions, but they also make text conversations more bland and hollow. Emotions are complex and layered, so to just put a "" when you want to communicate joy or laughter is easy, but it doesn't paint the whole picture.
Sometimes I feel that people who use them are the kind of people who laugh at jokes they do not find funny, and smile when they aren't happy.

There was an art to writing once, when people sent letters, cramming months of experiences into a small piece of paper. Now, you just plaster a smile onto something.

 

[Auninteligentname]

I tend to not use emoticons, but I use them in conversations with certain people, to show that I'm not grumpy while talking to them (because some people believe I must be grumpy if I'm not using emoticons).

 

[Chemical Alia]

I used to really hate emoticons. Back in 1995, I considered myself a Mavis Beacon typing champion, and I really didn't see the point of them. If you couldn't make your point without using an emoticon, then you didn't have a good point to make. But then at some point I stopped being 13, and I've seen so much of them over the years that I just stopped caring. I even use them occasionally. The only ones that I still find annoying are the super weeaboo ones, but honestly, it's kind of hard to care.

 

[neverarine]

emoticons provide a tone of voice :< and emotions... something these cold unfeeling text based characters have a hard time achieving D:

 

[Olas]

I used to find them annoying, now I just don't like it when they're overused.

My opinion is if you're going to use emoticons at least use good ones.

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[ThisGuyLikesNoTacos]

Not at all. What makes you say that?

They never really bothered me, but they do feel like a waste of space and time: Making reading what the other person types a bit more difficult to read.

Though they can make you look more laid-back (or just stupid).

 

[Hosker]

I don't use them often myself, but they can help greatly in conveying tone and meaning. It can get annoying when over-used though.

 

[loa]

You can't take people who use them as punctuation after every sentence seriously.

 

[dyre]

More often than I'd like I'll be in a conversation with a user on these very forums and they'll insert one of those damn emoticons. At that point my entire train of thought it disrupted and I just don't feel like continuing the conversation anymore.

Wow, did you have a traumatic childhood event related to emoticons?

I find that emoticons are overused, and some of them can be really obnoxious, but they have their place, often because sometimes adding a bit of silliness to a conversation has its place. Sometimes if you're having a serious conversation but you want to add something that isn't serious, you might follow it with an emoticon to make it clear. Or if I want to signal that I'm not in debate mode and just want a casual and good natured conversation, I might throw in an emoticon.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Nah. I started encountering this attitude over at 4chan and I guess at first I agreed with it, but the longer I thought about it, the less it really made sense. They're not bad. At worst, they're meaningless symbols, and at best they help convey the emotion carried in a statement without going into wordy detail.

I don't use them, but I feel they're a relevant part of internet culture, no different than acronyms like lol, rofl, lmao, brb, etc. They aren't proper grammar of course, but it's not really my place to tell anyone else how to write, and they don't offend me or get in the way of conversation. Artistic license and all that. I particularly like starting sentences with conjunctions just to spite that arbitrary rule.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

I don't mind emoticons. However, I can't stand animated gif avatars, especially ones with obnoxious pop culture references. I'm assuming its meant to signify their awareness of contemporary social paradigms and use it as a means to signal like minded groups to your persuasion and ward off/instigate confrontations with those who don't agree with it.

But it just seems immature to me

Smarmyness aside, I think people misuse them (emoticons that is)... the problem with text is one can't emote efficiently without aid. Emoticons are one option to help convey a tone of levity. Considering how often people mistake facetiousness for sincerity on the web, I say we absolutely need them, and maturity has nothing to do with it. It's just another facet of text based communication.

I am German.

That means that chatting with me on Skype or Facebook will end with loads of the following: xP ^^ xD

After every damn sentence. Deal with it.

I'm failing to see the correlation between being German and using emoticons. Is there some context I am missing here?

Elaborate, please.

You've been browsing the internet since at least 2009 and you don't know about Germans and emoticons?

Emoticons are like second nature to Germans. You wanna play some game online? You use emoticons. You're writing with a friend? You spam emoticons like there is no tomorrow. You're chatting up some girl and you want to get your dick wet? You better fucking use emoticons, otherwise that shit just ain't happening. You know what they say about bitches loving smilies? That holds true a billion times more than anywhere else in Germany.

Seriously though. Theres a stereotype about Germans out there, about Germans using a lot of emoticons in every situation. To be honest I haven't really seen a big difference between Germany and England.

Does this trend have anything to do with the stereotype of Germans being emotionless machines, typical touted by amateurish/cheap shot comedians... or casual racists? (not my opinion)

'Cause then I imagine the joke is that Germans can only emote via emoticons... cause they are machines themselves! Get it? No? It wasn't funny anyway.

Honestly I never heard that stereotype before (the one of Germans using emoticons excessively), and I can't imagine they are any different from other nationalities. Is this just an internet thing or is it something Germans are self aware of?

 

[Yabba]

I pay no attention to them.

My only irritation is "text talk".

If people can't be bothered to type out full words then I can't be bothered to respond to them.

And the funny thing is that "text talk" was invented and supposed to be used when everybody had flip up phones and took 5 seconds at least to type "four."

 

[Bigsmith]

I personally don't care as long as they aren't massively over used.

Personally I use them at the end of post as a way of expressing emotion... hence the name.

In my personal case I sign off posts with ':3' unless I'm posting something funny or sad ext.

 

[The_Echo]

More often than I'd like I'll be in a conversation with a user on these very forums and they'll insert one of those damn emoticons. At that point my entire train of thought is disrupted and I just don't feel like continuing the conversation anymore.

Holy shit. Just a couple of symbols placed together can do that to you? I dunno about you, but that seems like a bit of an overreaction.

I only use emoticons in casual conversation. I rarely use them here on the 'Scapist, though. I think they're a quick, easy way to convey tone through text, which is often difficult. Sometimes, they serve well as reactions to something just said, where using words would just feel stilted.

Emoticons only bother me in image form, because I think they look dumb. I always prefer the text form.

 

[SoulSalmon]

On forums I can admit that they rarely need to be used (In chat it's a different matter because there's a huge difference between "Oh fuck you" and "Oh fuck you xD" that you can't convey easily over text without them).

People who hate the overuse of them I can understand, people who hate them outright just come across as grumpy old men who hate everything that was created after they turned 20.

Edit: Also can anyone explain why "xD" seems to be hated the most out of any smiley? I really can't see why that should be the case...
I seriously got banned from an IRC chat before for using "xD" while everyone else was going "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!"

 

[Cowabungaa]

Nope. At least not during IM conversations. Y'see, I'm a very expressive during conversations. Very responsive to body language and all that. Emoticons adds a small amount of that to an otherwise expressionless way of conversing and I appreciate that.

That is assuming they're used correctly. But for that I don't blame the tool, I blame the user.

 

[Ninjasander]

Why would you hate on emoticons?! (&#12494;&#3232;&#30410;&#3232&#12494;

They are awesome! (&#9472;&#8255;&#8255;&#9472

 

[Zenn3k]

They are really required, and I feel they should be used more often.

When you read something on the internet without any sense of emotion from the writer, you import your OWN feelings on their speech.

This can cause you to read something meant as a joke, as being serious. Or something meant to be sarcastic as rude. Emoticons allow you to show the intended emotion of a sentence quickly and easily.