I still can't get over that chin scratching smiley, that's friggin genius.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i300/TehShredder/Smilies/scratchchinhm...
For Your Information...
I thought I'd counter that point about the smilies, just for the sake of contention. Although it seems rather pointless because I'm arguing a point with myself, but whatever. Here goes...
Smileys are cute to use, I won't deny you that. I usually forget what's going on in an Instant Messenging conversation when they're there. Then I just go on and on about how cute the smiley is and I forget what we were chatting about.
Let's put the cynical hat on for a second and leave the rational un-cynical hat away. What if it's all something designed to divert the person from what is being discussed.
Example time! Say Person A is chatting with Person B about how they will most likely break up with them. How do you stall for more time? If they know the person well, they may have already figured out their quirks and use that to their advantage.
So maybe, just maybe, smileys are being used to mask emotions and avoid a talk.
Not to mention that sometimes people use it so obnoxiously. There's times when they are needed, and other times when words, actual words could do a much better job at expressing the emotions you want to be presented.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i300/TehShredder/Smilies/scratchchinhm... I'm in love with that smiley.
