# Being Morally Opposed to the Smiley Face. . . **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2001, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-morally-opposed-to-the-smiley-face/53605 "2001-02-08T12:38:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![xekul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/838e76/32.png) [@xekul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xekul)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-morally-opposed-to-the-smiley-face/53605/21 "2001-02-18T22:19:30Z")
Way back in 1994, when the Internet was still a geek thing, it seems that smileys were a lot more common in e-mail, USENET, and message boards. But today most Internet users seem to avoid them, teenage girls exempted. My guess is that this is because there isn’t a counterpart to smileys in normal written communication. The problem is, traditional written communication was a lot more formal than message boards and e-mail; they usually weren’t carried out in conversational tones. So you didn’t have to figure out how to express sarcasm without the receiver taking it the wrong way. That’s the justification most netiquette guides give for smileys: they express tones that are otherwise difficult to express in ASCII text. To illustrate my point, compare these two statements: 1. Go to hell, you bastard. 2. Go to hell, you bastard 🙂 Which one seems friendlier? I’ll have to say, however, that good writers will resort to smileys less often to be understood. I’ll also say that smiley abuse–overusing it or using it when it’s unnecessary based on the standards above–irritates me too. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-morally-opposed-to-the-smiley-face/53605/22 "2001-02-18T23:28:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by VarlosZ \* > \*\*but I cringe at the thought of actually using one myself. > \*\* Die!!! Attack, boys. ⭕o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o :):):):):):):):):):)🙂 :mad: :mad: :mad: :eek: :eek: :eek: And the dreaded toungue in/out combo… :):p:):p:):p:):p:):p:):p:):p:) Ah, I’m just joshing you…hey…hey…NOOOOO!!! They won’t STOP!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :o :o :o ☹ 🆒:eek: Er…maybe you had a point there, Varloz…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-morally-opposed-to-the-smiley-face/53605/23 "2001-02-19T02:57:04Z")
I have nothing against smilies. In fact, I love pissing off Chief 😃 Scott with them 😉 There’s nothing more fun when talking to an idiot than by posting a :rolleyes: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-morally-opposed-to-the-smiley-face/53605/24 "2001-02-19T04:20:00Z")
Fine. I’ll bend this once. 🙂 [sub]Does anyone have any idea how hard that was for me to do?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-morally-opposed-to-the-smiley-face/53605/25 "2001-02-19T04:25:28Z")
I feel dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-morally-opposed-to-the-smiley-face/53605/26 "2001-02-19T14:46:23Z")
When I signed up I promised myself I would: 1. Be polite 2. Not post in the Pit (but of course I can browse there) 3. Not use smilies I haven’t formed an oppinion on “3)Hi Opal” These are just stylistic decisions I’ve made. Alot of people are smiley geniuses, and there use of smilies are pure art. My feeble use of the Great and Mighty Smiley would be but a pale reflection and diminish the smiley forever. If you’re a Smilies-phobe don’t use them. If you’re a Smilies-phile please do, they do liven up a post now and then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-morally-opposed-to-the-smiley-face/53605.md?page=1)