Effective Use of Emoticons to Better Online Communication
Online communication has grown by leaps and bounds since the Internet was created just a few years ago. Emoticons have also become an important part of that communication process. When used appropriately, they can enhance the written text and add visual and emotional value to the conversation. Even moreso, is to understand the avenues in which smileys are used. Facebook, twitter and even MSN all have a way to express your emotion with emoticons if needed. To find a wide range of smileys for facebook visit MyEmoticons.com. Classifying emoticons and knowing when to share them is an important aspect in simple peer-to-peer conversations as well as on forums where more eyes will see them.
Emotions and icons are blended together to form an emoticon. Early emoticons used sideways visuals to express positive or negative emotions. Two early uses included the following:
- The classic happy smiling face 
- The unhappy face with a frown 
Both of these emoticons can be used today in an e-mail, instant message or online chat session. No text or written word has to be included with them, yet they describe how the writer is feeling. Emotions and facial features are a huge aspect of the face-to-face conversation. So much can be told from simple cues on a person’s face that words just can’t describe. Incorporating just a portion of that aspect into the online communication world adds quality to the conversation.
Overusing Emoticons
Of course, too much of anything can be bad. When some people speak they have a tendency to add in filler words that detract from the conversation and their overall message. This comes from sloppy speaking skills and also involves habits and taking time to think about words for the conversation. Examples of this include the word and phrase, “right” and “you know.” You know. If you’ve ever heard someone speaking and constantly using these two words it gets distracting. Overusing emoticons has the same effect.
If someone is smiling in a face-to-face conversation the listener knows that the speaker is happy. That goes for online conversations too. Adding one or two emoticons representing a feeling of happiness is enough to get the emotional message through to the reader.
Using a Wide Variety of Emotions
Emoticons have evolved into about every emotion available. The evolution of graphics now allows users to click on the emoticon they want to use and it appears in their forum post or instant message chat. This adds fun, anger, laughter or crying to the conversation. That’s a valuable way to communicate those unseen emotions. Those simple sideways figures could only express a small amount of emotional feelings. Now, emoticons have the ability to roll their eyes, wink, scratch their chin, smirk, cry, pout, glare, blush, bat their eyelashes and create many more emotions that have more impact and punch. The ability to create exact messages for given words is available.
As different applications for conversation have evolved on the Internet so have the use of emoticons and the emotions tied to them. Use these extra conversation pieces to enhance the value of the written word for the benefit of yourself and the reader.