A philosophical question? Do emoticons add to or detract from useful discussion?
My own observation is that they are used as a crutch by people who know that their writing abilities are weak. That’s a joke, son, when they can’t tell a joke, and that sort of excuse.
But surely many will disagree with me. Those voting for emoticons, please explain what they add. The detractions are obvious.
Yours for clarity of expression.
Don Brown
Edited 7/5/2002 9:14:42 PM ET by Donald C. Brown
Replies
Lighten up Donald they're fun . They're probably popular with people who type r-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y- like me.
geoff
Evil, someone can send you a smiley face just to make you think that they are joking when the are really not. Keeps feelings from getting hurt ya know. :-)
Steve - in Northern California
The wink ;-) is quite useful to one whose tongue is frequently imbedded in cheek while typing. Keeps the rest of us from taking anything too seriously.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Evil? They can be tedious, I agree, but on occasion they may help augment the lack of immediate sensory feedback in this medium. Too many slash-and-burn flame wars occur because of the lack of visual and aural (tone of voice, etc.) messages accompanying comments, so I think the judicial use of emoticons can be helpful.
View Image
Bert is Evil
Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
are you serious?
Jack-
I guess there ok if it helps to communicate more effectively
That's really my question: Do they really help to communicate more effectively? Written communication was doing fine before the introduction of emoticons. Is it more effective now that they are available?
It's probably just me, but I find them a barrier to clear communication. If someone tells me a story and then jabs me in the ribs while winking and saying "Get it? Get It", then I tend to lose focus on what he said.
delete, delete OK, I should have kept my trap shut.
I'll just vote on the issue at hand. "Neither of the above" Not good, not evil, just "are".
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 7/6/2002 1:34:51 PM ET by forest_girl
Whatever, the Ignore button is under "Options" if you need it.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I'll take yours and keep mine shut even tho I'm chomping to say something stupid, evil or mean.
Hi Rick, you can check out my favorite blues place at kplu.org. They stream 24 hours a day, but since my sound card has all the fidelity of a tin can and string, I just listen live on Sat/Sun nights 6pm-midnight, usually in the shop. If you can find the "Singin' the Blues and Lovin' It" thread in the WWers Cafe, we can swap song titles there. Wouldn't want to hijack a thread here, would we? ;-) (uh-oh, evil, evil)
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Thanks, everyone who responded to my question. As I suspected, the use of emoticons appears to be inversely proportional to writing ability. Those who deal easily with ideas don't use them. Those who struggle with ideas use them frequently.
Have a good day! (:-%>)
Don
Is anyone else mystified as to how Donald reached his conclusion?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Forest Girl-
Here's the methodology:
I considered the answers to my question. Some were thoughtful, and addressed by and large the issue of lack of immediate feedback in written communication. Others were just nonsensical: "lighten up..." (what does that mean in the context of the question?), or my favorite: "(Emoticons) just are...) (oh wow, that's deep).
Then I tried to find contributions in other threads from those who were enthusiastic about emoticons, and from those who were mildly in favor or against. That hunt was complicated by the failure of the current search function to find individual contributors, but I found enough to support tentatively the conclusion I stated.
Finally, I went back to posts from people known to me to have made many useful contributions to the woodworking discussions on this forum: Sgian, Lee, ChasStanford, Joe, Splintie, Mark, et al. (for a complete list, send a SASE envelope to somebody). Clear, thoughtful ideas without resort to a single emoticon.
I rest my case.
(Smiley Face) ;-),
Don
Edited 7/6/2002 10:19:28 PM ET by Donald C. Brown
Edited 7/6/2002 10:22:06 PM ET by Donald C. Brown
Well, Don, you are full of horse pucky, although i mean that in the nicest way, so please don't take offense.
See, all of the above could have been handled with a smiley. Like this one:
*/* UU /
which shows me in my cheerleader guise. check out the...er...pom-pom's. Now, if you want methodology, i'll give you methodology, buster: did you laugh??? Case closed.
So take me off your list of emotionless icons and place me squarely in the camp of those in favor of the raised eyebrow, the curled lip, and--if you really want to nail a point home and not be misunderstood--a full-body massage.
This is a slippery slope, my friend. What's next? Italics? Colors? Comic Sans MS? I didn't fight for the right to font for nada, you know!
Edited 7/7/2002 2:08:41 AM ET by SPLINTIE
Multivariate analysis using clustering techniques...good stuff for helping to develop theories. Suspect your going to want to go back to your database and apply factoring to determine the inverse relationship and the correlative values within the confidence interval? Personally, I'm perplexed by the directions that came with my new japanesse chisel...soak end of handle for three hours in warm water...what is warm and how do I keep it warm for three hours..
BG-
I know, I know. But rigorous analysis is so much trouble. Why bother, when my prejudices lead me so easily to the one true answer?
My old Japanese tractor had a warning label that advised, "Drain cooling water perfectly to prevent frozen", and it caused me the sort of angst that your chisel directions seem to be causing you.
Don
Edited 7/11/2002 5:45:35 PM ET by Donald C. Brown
Okay I'll stop using emoticons altogether if someone would tell me how to spell that sound produced by placing the tongue, slightly protruding, against the upper lip and expelling air to produce a noise which in england we would have called a raspberry.
>:-p
I thought perhaps:
pppppppppppppppppppppp
Thank you.
Geoff,
I've seen it spelled 'thlllllbbbbpppt'. Hooked on phonetics (fonetix?).
Alan
Elvin Bishop has this song, "Mule kicking at my door". I know it ain't the Delta blues, but hey I was boogie(ing?). Have ya' hurd it?
B.
Don't think I've heard that one, but I know there were several mornings back in my college daze that felt like that! I'm a couple decades removed from that kind of nonsense now though. I'll check into that song. Have no idea what the -ing spelling is for boogie!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
OK, I'm new so you guys will have to break me in, but I thought I stumbed onto a woodworking forum here. Guess I'm lost.
Picky, picky, picky.
Shheesh.
8-)
>8-)
;-)
:-p
8-/
See? How useful! Now the reader has no doubt that I am just kidding. Either that or indications that I'm brain dead.
Rich
Yep, you're in the right place, but possibly the wrong room. This thread is only one of several hundred available -- I'm on my way to the more interesting ones, and you're welcome to join me on the way out the door.
"Birdseyeman" -- great name. Reference to maple? or decoys? or something more cryptic? Oops, don't answer that, it'll only perpetuate the thread. See ya around!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
where ever ya go there you are man... Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
Rick, hello? I'm pretty sure you wouldn't yell at me like this. I was just leaving this thread when I saw your post. You OK?
Hey! There's a guy over in "General Discussions" who needs our help fixing a maple table finish. C'mon over. I tossed out my 2cents worth, but he's going to need more help than that! LOL.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Dave-
Broadly characterizing people who use them as weak writers is one of the most pompous, bigoted, narrow minded, and insulting things I've read on this forum.
I was getting tired of bearing the pompus fardle all by myself. Thanks for chipping in and lightening the load.
Sincerely,
Don
Well im going to say something that might upset some of but if the emoitcon(sp) really bother you that much maybe ya need some sort of therapy. i mean a smilie face or a frown or a face in dark glasses..how could that possibly bother anyone???? Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
Well kiss my (!) or is it )o( or (*) if you can't take a joke. I didn't even know they had a word for them.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
hey hey well take :( and :( and while your at it.... Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled