I Hate Emoticons

[Avaholic03]

Well take your pick. In normal face-to-face conversation, more than half of the information conveyed is non-verbal. When you move to a text-based conversation you lose a lot of those subtle details that enrich the conversation. Emoticons are by no means a perfect solution, but they're much better than just typing something and hoping people understand the seriousness or sarcasm or other underlying things you're trying to get across.

 

[Elamdri]

ಠ_ಠ

I disagree with your thread.

 

[Ice Car]

I'm annoyed by them. I can live with seeing them but I just do not understand the trend of it all.

You're totally right and I agree with you. If you read back, at least 5 people including myself most certainly explained there is no purpose for emoticons.

I'm annoyed by them. I can live with seeing them but I just do not understand the trend of it all.

I'm not saying that it's pointless. I'm just saying that I do not understand it.
You're totally right and I agree with you. If you read back, at least 5 people including myself most certainly explained there is no purpose for emoticons.

I was using sarcasm there as an example. Albeit, it was obvious sarcasm, but that's where emoticons come in handy. It helps to distinguish between sarcasm, joking around, being serious, etc.

 

[gbemery]

at first I was like -.- but then I XD

Only when they are overused/ used in the wrong way. For example, A ' ' can shaow that you are trying to make a joke with your statment, and since you can't pass the tone/ inflection of your voice over the internet, it becomes a valuable tool.

but in all seriousness this is the reason for emotes. they help give the tone of your message. Like sarcasm doesn't go over well in text form but if you use then it hints it.

 

[MarkDavis94]

I can live with people using them apart from 1

:')

The happy crying face FUCK OFF it annoys me so much

 

[Goofguy]

I don't much care for emoticons. I never use them myself but if other people like using them, who am I to stop or berate them?

 

[Who Dares Wins]

There are some good emoticons. I don't know if you can see this one but it's awesome:
ಠ_ಠ

But some are just straight annoying.

EDIT: Oh. Who would have thought. Ninjad.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Oh you guys, emoticons aren't that bad~

 

[Jack Rascal]

If overused they get on my nerves too (and some are just horrible), as much as overusing abbreviations. Well, I call them abbreviations for a lack of a better word. I simply do not have the required patience to read through any text that has been written without using proper words. I was attracted to this site as I have not seen abbreviations much. Few LOL's here and there won't kill me.

But emoticons are very helpful while commenting, as mentioned above. It is unfortunately very easy to offend someone unintentionally.

I just hate this one:

:3

Good fucking God, do I hate that one!

Now that I think about it, this one's pretty awful too:

^_^

Oh yeah, and this:

;_;

I will display my stupidity (or ignorance) here, what on earth does ':3' mean? I'm not sure if I want to know though... It might be kinder to not tell me..

 

[Snake Plissken]

Doesn't it annoy the shit out of you.

Improper punctuation annoys the shit out of me even more. Doesn't it annoy the shit out of you?

 

[hypovolemia]

I find them annoying and they make me picture the poster as an idiotic 12-year-old (a 12-year-old who happens to be an idiot, that is). I don't know why. Still, I do get their point:

In normal face-to-face conversation, more than half of the information conveyed is non-verbal.

If I remember correctly that's actually 90%. 90% of the information you are trying to convey is lost in pure text form. Isn't that nice?

They can be used to express emotion or tone, a lot better than any other method I can think of in text based communication. [...]
After all, which seems like a stranger response to, say, my girlfriend informing me she can come visit me this weekend? "I am happy" or " ".

Emoticons may be more convenient, but if you are even a bit eloquent you shouldn't have any problems with not using them. You could say something like "Now I'm really looking forward to this weekend." I mean, I am terribly lazy and still don't use emoticons. They are never necessary, they just make things easier. And look stupid. Well, most of them, anyway.

Having said that, I wish there was a better (and convenient) indicator for the use of sarcasm.

 

[Sleekgiant]

D; I like emoticons though

 

[Cowabungaa]

I view them as tools to make your expressions or tone of voice come across in writing.

Exactly, they can completely change the way a phrase comes across.

For example:
Dude you're such an asshole.
Dude you're such an asshole

Assuming that in both cases the person who says this is sincere, the emotional load changes vastly by adding an emoticon. As said before, humans use non-verbal communication a lot. Emoticons are a crude and simplistic yet often effective imitation of at least a part of that non-verbal communication making text conversation, especially IMing, a lot more clear. Face it; they're useful.

I can live with people using them apart from 1

:')

The happy crying face FUCK OFF it annoys me so much

It basically means "Oh god you must be kidding me, that's so freakin' sad/stupid/retarded." Sort of like a facepalm.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

But why else did we make colons and brackets if not for Emoticons? XD

Now notice how, if I hadn't inserted that , it could lead some jackass to assume that I was actually ignorant enough to believe that instead of just being cheeky. Point proven.

OT: I use them sparingly. In fact XD is the only one I use consistently because......well, frankly, it's a fucking Lot better than using "Lol".....which I don't like.
Also, it's kinda funny lookin'. I mean looks at it. XD portrays the concept very well, I'd say.

 

[Smooth Operator]

The only ones I like are ( . )( . ) and ( | ) not too sure why

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Love them or hate them they are just what happens when text is used to replace speech in a non formal context. They are used to convey emotion and inflection that is lost in the conversion between the two.

 

[SlasherX]

Doesn't it annoy the shit out of you.

Improper punctuation annoys the shit out of me even more. Doesn't it annoy the shit out of you?

Grammar Nazis annoy the shit out of me don't they annoy the shit out of you?

 

[Biodeamon]

lol u mad? >

but yeah they kind annoy me too when they followed by improper spelling

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

^_^ I must say I quite enjoy using emoticons :3

Though I see where they could annoy someone D;

If they were massively overused for example?

But in moderation they are absolutely fine and can make forums seem even more relaxed