Smilies: Art or Annoyance?

[livius drusus]

I know what you're thinking. I'm just posting this to rationalize my obvious obsession with emoticons, but I swear, as much as that's basically true, it's also true that I am pretty seriously blown away by some of the smilies I've found.

I'm not just talking about this kind of thing: :venus:, but about the way these little guys can convey a panoply of emotion and experience. Look at the little glaring guy :glare:. Doesn't he stare right through you? How about this guy: :woopdedo:. Could he be less impressed?

I spent years rejecting the smilie; I never used them in posts. Then I went out to dig some up for this forum and ended up spending 2 months hand-picking every last one of the 944. And that's the ones that are left. I've deleted hundreds that became subpar as I found new ones.

So, stupid annoyance, a splash of color on a the page, necessary elements for online interaction, art, artistry, or just adorable cuteness? What are smilies to you?

[Petra]

Smilies add to my enjoyment of online interaction, and I am not just a user of smilies, I am a proud abuser, too. Yes, I could write more carefully chosen words to convey my mood and my meaning, but...have I ever told you how utterly fucking lazy I am? :tongueout: Quite frankly, I'm of the "work smarter, not harder" school of thought and smilies are, for me, a part of that philosophy. Why go into lengthy detail in text to make sure I am not misinterpreted, when I can simply post a smilie alongside my words and be clearly understood by all?

A friend and I even had a wordless conversation via PM once when my keyboard was broke. With the creative use of cute smilies and other graphics (such as images of tarot cards, etc) we completely understood what the other was on about, and had a great ol' natter for a good hour. Very colourful conversation it was, too. :yup:

I think smilies add to communication and are real cute an' purdy. There ought to be more of 'em.

Thank you, livius, for your smilie efforts. I am pleased to see you embrace them so openly. :ovation: <--- livius

Smilies make me believe I can fly! :fly2:

And yes, some are art. :monalisa:



:yes: :popcorn:

[Adora]

Hmmm, interesting. *checks out the smilies* Did you get some of these from DA liv?

I don't mind some smilies. Some of them I get sick of though. There are some very clever and cute ones around, however, which I will never cease giggling at.

[livius drusus]

Hmmm, interesting. *checks out the smilies* Did you get some of these from DA liv?

No ma'am. In fact, I never realized DA had any until yesterday when I added the link to your portfolio to the FAQ. I collected them mainly from the German smilie sites, from every forum I stumbled upon (probably no less than 100), and I found some of the really fab ones on Emotipad.

[Godot]

I generally don't mind smilies that much, particularly in how useful they can be in conveying emotions. Most people fail to comprehend dry sarcasm and humour, so the smilies help me out there. They even help in removing the sting from the occasional cheap shot when said shot was not intended to be malicious at all.

Apart from enhancing meaning, I really don't have much use for 'em. Hell, I use the quick reply feature most of the time, so I limit myself to those I recall the keyboard shortcuts for. And there ain't no way in hell I'm oging to learn shortcuts for all 944 smilies you've collected here. ;)

[Hugo Holbling]

They even help in removing the sting from the occasional cheap shot when said shot was not intended to be malicious at all.

I took what i thought was a cheap shot at the fair recently. I figured the teddy was easy game, but the bastard coconut was stuck in place. That's what i call stung. Damned carnies.

[LadyShea]

In the absense of body language and voice tone, I think smilies are almost necessary.

[viscousmemories]

Hell, I use the quick reply feature most of the time, so I limit myself to those I recall the keyboard shortcuts for.
Fortunately our quick reply feature here provides access to the smilies. Just click the smilie in the quick reply box. :)

(Yeah okay, it slows you down a bit and kinda defeats the "quick reply" purpose somewhat, but eh... what'reyagonnado?)

[HelenM]

II've deleted hundreds that became subpar as I found new ones.

Wow - so we have the best of the best! :v:

So, stupid annoyance, a splash of color on a the page, necessary elements for online interaction, art, artistry, or just adorable cuteness? What are smilies to you?

What are they to me? Nothing, she lied. :hide:

As LadyShea says, they're very helpful; I don't personally find them annoying but I think to call them art would be a stretch. Are there any other options? :dunno2:

I pay attention to how much the other people with whom I'm interacting use them and try not to use them more than the other person; because my experience is that people who don't use them quite often are irritated when others use them and/or don't take those who use them as seriously as those who don't.

Helen

[freemonkey]

I like the smilies, I can't believe there are so many of them around that you deleted hundreds and still have 944 remaining!

Someone had to create them, give them a life and likeness to express as well as they do. That makes them art, IMO.

[Lauri D]

Give me smilies or give me death. :protest:

Ok, maybe not death, but you get the picture.

I love 'em. I'm a loser, a user, a smilie abuser... - to me, they add an element of fun and frivolity as well as being useful for conveying mood and intent that text alone can't. To paraphrase Lady, absent body language and tone, they are IMO indispensable.

And liv, you done good with this particularly vast selection. Real good.

:cloud9:

[Larry]

What are they to me? Nothing, she lied. :hide:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rogerlori1/emoticons/couch.gif

I usually hide underneath my desk (with a box of candy) ;) but I suppose a chair will do in a pinch.
I pay attention to how much the other people with whom I'm interacting use them and try not to use them more than the other person; because my experience is that people who don't use them quite often are irritated when others use them and/or don't take those who use them as seriously as those who don't.
Good point! There was this one fellow I knew that refused to use them, but I soon got him to see the light of day. :yup:

Larry :)

[Chiron]

I've never extensively used smilies, excepting the ;) and occasionally :). Pretty much all of the others would require a quite out-of-the-ordinary happenstance for me to use 'em. 'Cos most of the text you read by means of me is mean with to be conveyed with half a smile, a wink, and sometimes a nudge. I think it's generally obvious when I'm being serious, and I endeavor to make it at least somewhat clear when I'm joking or half-joking (oft via ridiculousness).

This may be part of the reason why my posts tend towards the monolithic variety.

K

[Ronin]

You know what's weird...I just recently decided to wean myself off the little buggers.

Story of my life I tellya.

...

...

How's everyone on the abundant use of tildes and italics?

Just checking...no reason.

[Petra]

How's everyone on the abundant use of tildes and italics?



Ahhh, good times, good times. They had a rather devastating effect on me - gave me the vapours, actually.



Do it again! Do it again!

[Shake]

Ahh, the old italics! Some folks really like to use colors, while others use different fonts. Some, I think, abuse the smilies, but as was mentioned above, they can help clarify when someone is being sarcastic (not always obvious on a BB), or it can emphasize a point (I'm thinking of the good ol' rolleyes, here).

Anyway, quite a few of these are new to me, and I've been to some smilie sites, so I've seen plenty.

Two example of smilies here that made me chuckle: :choices: :statue:

[Shake]

Ahhh, good times, good times. They had a rather devastating effect on me - gave me the vapours, actually.



Do it again! Do it again!
Did you say, "vapours?"

:vapours:

:P

[pzmyers]

Like benzaldehyde to a fruit fly.

Like water to a witch.

Like N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide to a mosquito.

Like garlic to a vampire.

And now I must fly.

[livius drusus]

For all who do not know the archsmilienemesis that is pz, click here (http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.php?s=&postid=385210#post385210).

Man, the only time I might be tempted to use one of these things is if I had a 'bitchslap' emoticon I could use in reply to a whole train of those cutesy little plotzes. Nah, I'm lying -- I wouldn't be tempted even then.

Are you sure? :slap:

[Scotty]

Art. Yeah, art. No, well, annoyance, that...yeah, annoyance...uhhh, nah, art yeah, uh, yeah, something like annoying art.

:)

Did you know that the dancing bannana has 272 frames? Amazing. Now THAT is persistence.

Something, sadly, I think pz is missing from his diet. Oh shit, no, not pz, he is missing something else, something poignant, like body odor.

-Scott

[HelenM]

Like benzaldehyde to a fruit fly.

Like water to a witch.

Like N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide to a mosquito.

Like garlic to a vampire.

And now I must fly.

pzmyers, welcome to this forum.

Helen

[JoeP]

Not art; at least almost never. Although the craft is impressive. :bow:

Often annoyance, but only if they are used to badly. :fuming:

Actually: communication. :yup: :handshake:: (They either communicate what the writer intended :sendmail: :mail: , or the fact that the writer is overkeen on smilies and not so good at communication. :serenade: )

:3some2: :date: :kiss2:

[Dlanod]

Less is more. I find that they often distract me from what is being said. Maybe I'm just not very visual. I keep finding myself looking at some of the smilies and thinking "what the hell is that" and "what does that have to do with what I just read."

Just my two cents worth.

[livius drusus]

That's perfectly understandable, Dlanod. I often wonder what all people are trying to say when they pick a certain smilie.

Meanwhile, in honor of pz's registration, we're looking into a hack that will allow members to globally disable smilies. That way we won't drive either of y'all crazy.

Welcome to FF, btw.

/me smiles at Dlanod with words

[viscousmemories]

Ditto what liv said, Dlanod. :welcome:

[Ymir's blood]

Frankly, I like smilies. A lot.

:poisonm: :magic: :saddrunk:

[Crumb]

You infernal raiser of the dead. :undead:

[Ymir's blood]

You infernal raiser of the dead. :undead:
:spooksho:

[pescifish]

:mori:

[ApostateAbe]

Nothing but annoying. Wierd graphics and animations are no substitution for something genuinely clever, unless you made the graphics yourself. If you are being sarcastic (which I avoid in writing), then I suggest you use an old-school colon and closing parathesis.

[justaman]

Nothing but annoying. Wierd graphics and animations are no substitution for something genuinely clever...
In that case some of us could possibly gain from a little substitution.

hint

hint

:wink:

[justaman]

Overall I think smilie use is awesome when people get it right. But when people get it wrong it's really annoying and looks hideous. It's an artform, I think, and not everyone has 'it'. For instance I've never...ever...seen someone use :chin: and not make me want to smack them. Also :roflmao: and :rofl: when out of context are very annoying, especially when someone uses them to punctuate a joke they've made themselves. However the historically most annoying smilie has got to be :wave: It's innocuous enough when in a hello/goodbye context, but it seems to be a favourite of trolls and stupid people who believe they've said something really obvious.

P.S. congrats to the thread on the resurrection

[Crumb]

:chin:

[justaman]

Hands up anyone who didn't see that coming? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[Crumb]

:wave:

[justaman]

:bull:

[viscousmemories]

:roflmao:

[justaman]

We're just a regular bunch of freakin Seinfelds here on FF aren't we?

:nono: