Yep. I hate emoticons. I can express in words anything one of these silly little bastards can do. But if I ever get involved in a debate that seems to be spiraling out of control, for some reason this little guy ( 
) calms everyone down. I don’t like him. I never stick my tongue out in real life. Hell, I’m not even sure my eyes can do that little half-circle move. Nor am I green.
Yet here I am, handing them out like candy. D’oh. :smack:
Me, too. I don’t use emoticons here or on most sites but will use them (only 
and though) in more private and informal communications, like emails and IMs.
With apologies to all you anti-emotites out there, I loves me some SDMB smilies. I really never use them in any other forum, but… there’s just something about this guy: :mad: that cracks me up every single time. I’m pretty fond of my pals happy guy and cheeky guy, ;), and really nothing properly blues-up a post like sad guy: :(.
Rock-on, emoters. Rock on.
I usually hate them too. As the Scottish Guy on YouTube said, “I didn’ learn to read and write so that I could communicate using a system of crude pictograms.” I use them when I figure that what I’ve said will not be taken in the spirit it was intended.
I think of them as the body language of electronic communication. You can never be sure what tone your words will take with your reader. The emoticons convey that tone for you to lessen the chance of miscommunication. That, plus they are so darned cute! 
In praise of the emoticon:
Smilies: bane of
some posters’ existence, but
mad guy tickles me.
I completely agree. Communication is NOT limited to the 26 letters of the alphabet.
Emoticons, just like any other form of communication, have their place, and sometimes they are appropriate and sometimes they aren’t.
I understand that other languages use symbols other than the 26 I’m used to…
I think emoticons have their place. The ones here are good. Other places they’re too goofy. Many’s the time I’ve spoken in jest only to be taken seriously; the right emoticon takes care of that.
Any tool that aids communication is OK by me.
I’ve never understood why electronic text-based communication is so fundamentally different from nonelectronic text-based communication that the former requires a substitute for body language while the latter has done without it excellently for thousands of years.
Hi. My name’s ChiefScott and I’m a “Smiley user hater.”
Back in the old days of the SDMB (1999-2000), we had no emoticons. Most posters embraced their debut as they were familiar with them from other sites. When they were introduced, 95% of the posters abused them (IMHO). I hated them. I fuckin’ HATED them.
I don’t like change, and that was partially the reason. Mostly though, I was affronted because I felt it “dumbed down the board.” The SDMB was my bastion of intelligence – my Fortress of Solitude in a “dumb” world.
Unca Cece didn’t use 'em. I’ve never seen 'em in a text book. And (so far) they’ve not made an appearance in most of the good newspapers here in the States. These fine folks must have a reason and that reason was good enough for me.
I wanted them gone. I wanted them gone yesterday! I was resentful that MY board was being infected with them. I railed to the mods. I railed to the webmaster. I tried to convice folks not to use 'em. I tried to figuratively beat the shit out of anyone who used them. Embarrass them into submission.
It got to the point where I flame any newbee who had the audacity to use them. I’d take my 1,000+ post count and kick 'em and kick 'em and kick 'em until they either went away or bent to my will.
I once made a post and forgot to disable the smilies (this was before we had an edit function) and an errant smiley appeared. Word spead quickly that “ChiefScott used a smiley.” Threads were started. Pros and cons discussed. Punishment was meted. It turned into a quagmire of self-justification for me.
I became known as the poster who most hated “smilies.” Whenever and where ever I posted, responses would be tagged with smilies. Posts comprised solely of smilies would appear. I frickin’ received smiley stickers in the MAIL!!! (We were a lot looser with personal information then.)
Opal ran a poll back on the fathom board around that time and I was voted “the poster who most hated smilies” or some such nonsense. I was actually proud of that designation.
Older posters can attest to these facts.
Somehow in all the furor, my reason for liking the boards and the community here was surplanted by my new *raison d’etre * – campaigning and fighting for the removal of emoticons from the board.
After a Dopefest in Norfolk in mid-2000, I mellowed a bit. Meeting dopers in person made me realize that this, too, was other folks’ Fortress of Solitude – just for different reasons than mine.
I still don’t use 'em. But I now dislike rather than hate them. I’ve grown much more tolerant of their use and the posters who use them. Though I still catch myself mentally categorizing a poster as a “lower tier poster” for using 'em. But I believe I’m getting better One Day At A Time.
I’ve not changed my sig, though…