The Influence Of Emoticons on Facebook
Emoticons are a combination of letters and/or symbols, called short cuts, which are used to create charming little expressions on the Internet equivalent of stick figure faces.
Since the advent of the Internet as a form of communication, emoticons have become an intrinsic part of all variety of electronic communities. They pop up everywhere from e-mail, to instant messages, and (of course) are scattered all across social networking sites like Facebook. In fact, there are even Facebook fan pages dedicated to the subject of emoticon usage. These range from the “I Love Emoticons” page to the “Using Emoticons When You Have Nothing Left to Say” page. There is even a musician who calls himself Emoticon, and who has created a Facebook fan-page where he broadcasts his musical endeavors.
These cute little smiley faces seem to have become as much a part of modern culture as the expressions on our own when we are walking around town. So why are emoticons so popular? Well, since body language and tone of voice are absent from Facebook chat and Facebook statuses using emoticons can help you convey things which otherwise might go unnoticed. You can use :p to stick your tongue out at someone if you are feeling bratty. >:( can express your wrath or your displeasure with someone who is aggravating you. Some people even take the use of emoticons so far as to use them as punctuation, closing every sentence with a smiley face, a frown, or a pink heart!
Some emoticons are more popular than others. Apparently there are both shark and penguin emoticons. Who knew? Though they are interesting creations (and yes, they really DO look like sharks and penguins) why these two creatures in particular? How often do you find yourself suddenly compelled to use a penguin in lieu of a punctuation mark? It doesn’t really matter why. As some of the newest additions to the Facebook emoticon list, they now exist should a user ever be compelled to use them.
Others, like the wink emoticon (a little round smiling face with one eye closed) are common every day sightings on Facebook. The wink is, after all, perfect for letting someone know your just kidding! Don’t take it personally!
The grin, or little yellow smiley face that has become a Facebook status staple (which is just a colon and an open parenthesis in reality) can be excellent for both expressing joy as well as for taking the edge off unkind statements when tossed into a conversation. There is a Facebook page dedicated to that as well, the “Using emoticons to make my insults seem less harsh” page.
You can even express your enamor towards the man of your dreams with an emoticon. Just open up a chat window with the object of your affection, type :-* and voila! A cute little emoticon puckering her red lips for a kiss appears in the chat box!
Ultimately, the fascination with Facebook emoticons doesn’t seem likely to be on its way out. With penguins, sharks and pacman already added to the list, who knows what the next hot new emoticons will be! Just keep your eyes on the ever evolving emoticon trend and see where it goes from here!
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