Smileys have been on the net since one guy in the early net-days added a colon: before a parenthesis). Since then, abbrevations and complex symbol-images have been flourishing both to ease fast communication and to ensure the integrity of the internet’s users. By the latter, I’m talking about protecting the individual self-image of the experienced internet users.
The way smileys can perform as communication in
sentences has always astonished me. If your sentence is poor in such a way that it could be negative towards the receiver, you can add an open-hearted smiley afterwards which reduces the risk of your message being interpreted in a way you hadn’t planned.
This is, however, a help when your language is poorly written. Or written too fast.
But the growing commercialism and introduction of the web to the young, and by young I’m talking about 8-14 year old kids, smileys have become a source of endless frustration. In my "generation" you don’t use symbols without purpouse. The purpouse seems to fade away the instant you receive a mail with the subject line: HEY ITS GOD TO SEE YOU:) :D !!!!!!!!
Of course it’s good to see me. How good it is for me to see you, however…
The real issue of today’s smileys which is also the reason why I disable them in any way I can, is the pixel graphics. Look at this shit: 
First of all, it is poorly designed. It’s hard to see wether the yellow guy, suspiciously similar to the original Pacman – if you’re old enough to know what I’m talking about, is laughing out loud or just having a nervous breakdown. The abbrevation lol (or stronger: LOL) is much easier for anyone to read and understand.
Second of all, this thing is like a plague. It’s been spreading through instant messenger software, through e-mails, through webpages and now we have them on our cellular phone.
And there are always more reasons, but I don’t want to bore you. You should know why I’m not using the integrated smileys of b2 on my page, at least. People have asked me about that. They have asked me about it! WTF?! "I’m just writing you this mail to let you know your smileys isn’t working." The obvious concern for this is worrying.
But smileys are so cute!
Yeah? Yesterday I saw a black pig with a red ribbon around it, all dressed for x-mas. That was cute! It also had a cutting edge humour about it; we’ll eat you soon enough, piggie! Enjoy your life! Try expressing that with some stupid ass smiley!
So, here’s the smileys and abbrevations I use (text only):
:) – The smiley
WTF? – What the f*ck?
lol – laughing out loud
:D – Funny!
:p – Stupid; That’s too bad etc.
– Guy leaning on the wall, James Dean
/ – Guy falling down
_ – Dead guy, passed out guy
|= – handgun
brb – be right back
stfu – shut the f*ck up
Check it, a dialgoue:
:) :p WTF? lol stfu :D brb |= / _
Hey m8. Jeg er dypt skuffet at du tar min grafikk uten å henvise til kilde. Han kisen som holder den plakaten eller hva vi skal kalle det. Tingen er at jeg fant den på en side som inneholder slike ting, or kan brukes fritt. Fett nokk. Men jeg modifiserte den. Jeg brukte minutter på å fikse handa hans, med den fingeren oppe. Du har derimot bare kibba den, uten å si hvor den grafikken er henta fra. Bad bad bad. Jupp, overdreven bruk av uansett forkortelser er eeeek.
Btw, ttyl mofo :-D.
¿Qué?
Jeg beklager hvis jeg såret følelsene dine, altså. Det gjør meg vondt til hjerterota!
“By the way, take those yanks later, motherfucker?”
??
|= ***** /…__
…|=*****=|…?
…|=*****=|…?
…|=*****=|…
.. /..
_ _
The end.
Nice ending.
It had to be that way. Me, him or both. That’s what it always comes down to with men like us. *snif* The pop-up wasn’t big enough for both of us.
On my page you can see my self-made smiley:
¦¬þ