# Did the old rolleyes smiley cause an increase in suicides or something? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 30, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457 "2014-07-30T23:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/1 "2014-07-30T23:41:09Z")
IMHO, the old, amusingly disapproving rolleyes smiley was far superior to the new, I’m-wistfully-dreaming-of-an-ice-cream-cone smiley. It is as if the rolleyes emoticon has been taken away altogether. I realize this is a family board that adheres to strict standards, but I think one thing most people can agree upon is that the gesture of rolling the eyes implies some measure of disapproval. There is a distinct dash of negative sentiment implied, even if it is in a churlish, eighth-grade sort of way. One would never paste a cartoonish, crooked grin on their face when emoting a genuine rolling of the eyes (unless it was being done in a paternalistic manner, which is rarely the case around here), even if the genuine expression is itself a little cartoonish in the aforementioned eighth-grade way. It isn’t wistful- you’d _frown_. So, in the interest of preserving the spirit of self-expression on this board, I hereby move that the new rolleyes smiley be retired and replaced by the old, clearly superior frowny one. Unless, that is, that little dash of implied negative sentiment was leading to an increase in the suicide rate, or some other unacceptable consequence. :rolleyes: See what I mean? What say ye? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/2 "2014-07-31T00:41:03Z")
You haven’t been paying attention. The whole new collection of those emoticons (with just a few exceptions) has been thoroughly criticized, critiqued, and crapped-upon in several ATMB threads, especially when they first infested this board. The mods have made clear that their tech guy has better things to do in life, and it isn’t going to change and that’s just the way it is and the way it’s going to be. That abomination of a new rolleyes icon has been the target of particularly venomous opprobrium. And damn rightly so, too, IMHO (In Many Humble Opinions). A fair number of users of this board have been boycotting those new icons, and the rolleyes one in particular. I have been using 🙂 for the regular traditional smiley, just as in the bad old Usenet days of the 1980’s. Many of us have been using //rolleyes// or //old-rolleyes// or variants of that to represent the old roll-eyes icon, as Og meant it to be, so it’s coming to be an known and understood meme here. ETA: You see that, **drewtwo99**? We know you’re watching! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/3 "2014-07-31T01:13:19Z")
I guess I haven’t been paying attention- I only have so much time and don’t always read the ATMB. Can you provide links to these other threads? Maybe if we could provide enough weight of sentiment it would sway the powers that be to yield to the demands of us little people. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/4 "2014-07-31T01:27:12Z")
[OMG new smileys??!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716855) Thread started by **YogSosoth** on 02-26-2014. [We need a :RollEyes: smiley!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719967) Thread started by **Rhythmdvl** on 04-02-2014. [When did this rolleyes abomination happen?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=727015) Thread started by **Fear Itself** on 06-27-2014. And now: [Did the old rolleyes smiley cause an increase in suicides or something?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=729882) Thread started by **Try2B Comprehensive** on 07-30-2014. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/5 "2014-07-31T01:28:15Z")
I know it caused mine. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/6 "2014-07-31T01:39:12Z")
The change in smileys came about with a necessary board upgrade. We didn’t ask for the new smileys, they came along for the ride, I guess. The new smileys are default vBulletin. Jerry’s not likely to change anything from default settings, default is how he does business, pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/7 "2014-07-31T02:14:22Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > The change in smileys came about with a necessary board upgrade. We didn’t ask for the new smileys, they came along for the ride, I guess. > > The new smileys are default vBulletin. Jerry’s not likely to change anything from default settings, default is how he does business, pretty much. While a default set of smiley images is attached with every version of vBulletin, they are no more a part of the software than the posts people make. We manage to upgrade the software and not delete all the posts, right? So too could we preserve whatever smilies we wanted. All you have to do is change the filenames away from the defaults. Anyone with access to the AdminCP can do it. Put the original smiley images somewhere on your computer, renamed something unique, e.g. rolleyes-sdmb.gif. Delete all the smilies you want to replace. Click on the Upload Smilie button, click Browse to choose the appropriate file and fill in the rest of the fields appropriately. I swear you can do it in less than five minutes. This isn’t like editing templates or modifying vBulletin, it’s just telling the database which little gif images to use when someone types :rolleyes:. If you like the new smilies, then by all means keep them, but they’re not an unavoidable part of the version of vBulletin you’re using. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/8 "2014-07-31T02:23:58Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > While a default set of smiley images is attached with every version of vBulletin, they are no more a part of the software than the posts people make. We manage to upgrade the software and not delete all the posts, right? So too could we preserve whatever smilies we wanted. All you have to do is change the filenames away from the defaults. > > Anyone with access to the AdminCP can do it. Put the original smiley images somewhere on your computer, renamed something unique, e.g. rolleyes-sdmb.gif. Delete all the smilies you want to replace. Click on the Upload Smilie button, click Browse to choose the appropriate file and fill in the rest of the fields appropriately. I swear you can do it in less than five minutes. This isn’t like editing templates or modifying vBulletin, it’s just telling the database which little gif images to use when someone types [noparse]:rolleyes:[/noparse]. > > If you like the new smilies, then by all means keep them, but they’re not an unavoidable part of the version of vBulletin you’re using. Due to the hacking that happened that one time, I think Jerry may be the only one with access to the Admin panel, though. And he apparently refuses to do it. Even though he fixed it before the last time the smileys got overwritten. It seems so odd to be so obstinate about something that pretty much everyone seems to want changed. And, as you state, it’s possible to do it where he’ll never have to do it again, even after an upgrade. The different filenames will keep them from being overwritten. That’s why :dubious: and :smack: are still the same. The upgrade only replaced the smileys because he didn’t rename them the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/9 "2014-07-31T07:19:57Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > The change in smileys came about with a necessary board upgrade. We didn’t ask for the new smileys, they came along for the ride, I guess. > > The new smileys are default vBulletin. Jerry’s not likely to change anything from default settings, default is how he does business, pretty much. I am not familiar with Jerry, but I’ve only been here so long and am not really well-connected. Is it possible to arrange some face-time with Jerry? I’d like to demonstrate some facial expressions to him. Unless he is autistic, I solemnly believe he’d get the point in less than five minutes via this method. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/10 "2014-07-31T14:20:00Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Anyone with access to the AdminCP can do it. Put the original smiley images somewhere on your computer, renamed something unique, e.g. rolleyes-sdmb.gif. You forgot the part about getting in your time machine and performing that backup operation BEFORE doing the vBulletin upgrade. At this point, they’re just gone man, like [keys in river of molten lava](http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if_you_ever_drop_your_keys_into_a_river_of_molten/340628.html). Let 'em go. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/11 "2014-07-31T14:56:21Z")
I like the new roll-eyes fine. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/12 "2014-07-31T15:01:01Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > You forgot the part about getting in your time machine and performing that backup operation BEFORE doing the vBulletin upgrade. > > At this point, they’re just gone man, like [keys in river of molten lava](http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if_you_ever_drop_your_keys_into_a_river_of_molten/340628.html). Let 'em go. I very much doubt that it would be the work of more than a few minutes, for anyone with reasonable computer skills, to recover them. Heck, they (or, rather, it, because it is actually only one of the new smileys that is seriously inadequate) could probably be recreated in just few minutes too, even by someone without artistic skills. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/13 "2014-07-31T15:10:08Z")
Instead of telling Jerry how to do his job or getting up in his face(both _great_ ways to handle situations), might I suggest we just accept the answer we’ve been given several times now and just move on, like adults? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/14 "2014-07-31T15:35:29Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > At this point, they’re just gone man, like [keys in river of molten lava](http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if_you_ever_drop_your_keys_into_a_river_of_molten/340628.html). Let 'em go. It is the internet. I’m sure it is out there somewhere. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Instead of telling Jerry how to do his job or getting up in his face(both _great_ ways to handle situations), might I suggest we just accept the answer we’ve been given several times now and just move on, like adults? I’ll consider your mature advice, while pointing out that isn’t how women got the right to vote, black people got equal protection, gays the right to marry, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/15 "2014-07-31T15:40:28Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I’ll consider your mature advice, while pointing out that isn’t how women got the right to vote, black people got equal protection, gays the right to marry, etc. No rolleyes, old _or_ new is suitable for a statement that compares this situation to > [@](#): > > how women got the right to vote, black people got equal protection, gays the right to marry, etc. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/16 "2014-07-31T16:01:34Z")
\*\*Moderator Note:Hey, let’s not get personal here. People can have different points of view without slapping at one another. If you have a problem with someone take it to The Pit. If you’re going to post in this forum, be polite. Shouldn’t have to tell this to any of you. \*\* The moderators are aware some of you do not like the smilies. The one person who can do something about it has already told you nothing’s changing. Maybe y’all can get a script going where you can have whatever smilies you want. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/17 "2014-07-31T16:19:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It seems so odd to be so obstinate about something that pretty much everyone seems to want changed. I think it’s just fine. > [@TubaDiva](#): > > Maybe y’all can get a script going where you can have whatever smilies you want. Excellent suggestion. Any of you smart people think a script could be made for this? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/18 "2014-07-31T16:21:03Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I am not familiar with Jerry, but I’ve only been here so long and am not really well-connected. > > Is it possible to arrange some face-time with Jerry? I’d like to demonstrate some facial expressions to him. Unless he is autistic, I solemnly believe he’d get the point in less than five minutes via this method. It’s most likely that Jerry’s management don’t want him spending even the five minutes that it would take to change the emoticons and that’s why he isn’t doing it. This isn’t an issue of competence or work ethic. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/19 "2014-07-31T16:42:30Z")
Just as an aside, so we have some numbers to work with, over on the Giraffe Board I actually timed how long it takes to upload a smiley from my desktop to the board (same software, similar version) is used in both places. Answer? 1 minute, 1 second from the moment I hit the “Admin” button. And that’s with me choosing the wrong option (there are two Add Smilies options–one for something already on the board and one for something that needs to be uploaded. I hit the wrong one first (I always do) and that probably added 10 seconds. It took me 1 minute additional to find a smiley and download it to my desktop, something that presumably wouldn’t be needed for a file that vB has already. I accept that it’s not going to happen and frankly, I don’t care all that much (I prefer the old one) but whatever reason there is for not uploading the new smiley, it’s not an issue of it taking too much time or him being too busy. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/20 "2014-07-31T17:14:41Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Jerry’s not likely to change anything from default settings, default is how he does business, pretty much. Except, apparently, for search time limitations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457.md?page=2)