OK - Seriously what's with the smiley hate?

[amber]

Originally Posted by Serrart

I love smilies, even if after a discussion with David I realized that those little things could be an insidious cop-out so I'm trying to use them more wisely.

Romy

Meh, who cares what David says? What I love about them, is that can express so much, so succinctly, that it might take a whole bunch of boring ol' words forever to say.
That's more true in real life, though. I love saving time and having fun by using facial expressions to convey things, instead of bunches of words. I hate when people talk on and on, with no jokes and no expressions, telling long stories.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................

[heyjupiter678]

Smilies don't bother me a lot. I feel like I'm not a very articulate person, so I usually use a couple of them when I think I need help getting my point across. To me, though, more than a few (especially in a row) is excessive, and a waste of bandwidth. But it's not that big of a deal.

[amber]

Originally Posted by David

But come to think of it, Romy, aren't they all -- smilies, words, gestures, concepts -- just self-referential signs in a semiotic universe gone mad?

Romy, I ate too many pepper crackers for lunch. But I also had two raw spinach sandwiches on whole wheat bread. I take two slices of whole wheat bread, put plenty of Smart Balance spread (an American product that contains the right balance of omega-3 & omega-6 oils & no hydrogenated fats) on both slices of bread, & then add plenty of raw spinach epaulets & . . . there's my sandwich!

Wash it down with a large glass of cold vanilla-flavored soy milk & there I go!

That's a good plan. However, I only like plain soymilk. My soymilk doesn't need all those bells and whistles to express itself. I like it because of the content of it's soymilkness alone. Why use those flavorings, it only detracts from the soymilk's true point.

[ontheEdgeof17]

Originally Posted by heyjupiter678

Smilies don't bother me a lot. I feel like I'm not a very articulate person, so I usually use a couple of them when I think I need help getting my point across. To me, though, more than a few (especially in a row) is excessive, and a waste of bandwidth. But it's not that big of a deal.

Agreed.

I just don't like posts like this:

I always try to write something, too.

[Mari]

Originally Posted by amber

Meh, who cares what David says? What I love about them, is that can express so much, so succinctly, that it might take a whole bunch of boring ol' words forever to say.
That's more true in real life, though. I love saving time and having fun by using facial expressions to convey things, instead of bunches of words. I hate when people talk on and on, with no jokes and no expressions, telling long stories.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................

lol, I'm like that.. I've a rubber face that anyone can read before I even think of what I want to say.. Often people will even tell me, "Oh, I knew what you were thinking!" when I didn't even realise it.
And I've near-invented my own sign language

[amber]

Originally Posted by Mari

lol, I'm like that.. I've a rubber face that anyone can read before I even think of what I want to say.. Often people will even tell me, "Oh, I knew what you were thinking!" when I didn't even realise it.
And I've near-invented my own sign language

Twins! hehehehe.

Oh, and ReFleetwoodMac.
I disagree with you about that. I always will.
And I think the random person reading a post littered with smilies will get the sense that someone is happy right then, and likes to laugh, or is making a joke. All of which are good things. "It's only you and me, and we just disagree"

[Serrart]

Originally Posted by David

But come to think of it, Romy, aren't they all -- smilies, words, gestures, concepts -- just self-referential signs in a semiotic universe gone mad?

Sure, and there are always parts of us that we miss and sometimes hold a lot.

Originally Posted by David

Romy, I ate too many pepper crackers for lunch. But I also had two raw spinach sandwiches on whole wheat bread. I take two slices of whole wheat bread, put plenty of Smart Balance spread (an American product that contains the right balance of omega-3 & omega-6 oils & no hydrogenated fats) on both slices of bread, & then add plenty of raw spinach epaulets & . . . there's my sandwich!

Wash it down with a large glass of cold vanilla-flavored soy milk & there I go!

Ever tried Tango lessons instead?

Romy

[Serrart]

Originally Posted by amber

Meh, who cares what David says?

It wasn't what he said, but his perspective that made me think.

Originally Posted by amber

What I love about them, is that can express so much, so succinctly, that it might take a whole bunch of boring ol' words forever to say.
That's more true in real life, though. I love saving time and having fun by using facial expressions to convey things, instead of bunches of words. I hate when people talk on and on, with no jokes and no expressions, telling long stories.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................

I love both smilies and long stories. It all depends by the storyteller.

Romy

[amber]

Originally Posted by ReFleetwoodMac

Depends on the person... Shall we go back to David's theory?

no, that's just the type of thing I try to avoid doing.

[David]

Originally Posted by amber

no, that's just the type of thing I try to avoid doing.

Uh, you forgot your smilie there ^^

[amber]

Originally Posted by David

Uh, you forgot your smilie there ^^

I didn't want to use one, mr. vanilla soymilk.

[SomeKindaMother]

Originally Posted by ReFleetwoodMac

Overdoing it on the smilies does make the person seem a tad less intelligent (no offense to all smilie lovers) just because it's like a tell that shows the world they aren't as good at writing. Not that all smilie users are dumb and all non-smilie users are genious, but if a random person were to come across a sentence full of bouncing, freaky heads, they might not take the person quite as seriously. Of course, most people around here take people way too seriously when they don't use smilies.

Okay, let's say for the sake of argument that *I*, smilie lover and user (NOT over-user) am in actuality 'a tad less intelligent' than say, oh...YOU for instance, smilie loather and non-user. Then what?

Kelly

[SomeKindaMother]

Originally Posted by amber

But they probably only seem less intelligent to people who don't use smilies. For me, I'm waaaay smart ( ) but I never have expressed myself in writing, my whole life, it's just not something I do, except for writing funny notes, and analytical papers for Englishy type classes. (which I am good at, suprisingly). I've always expressed myself other ways, especially physical ways - sports, acting, singing, TALKING. And when I talk, I tend to be expressive, so the emoticons are a natural extension of that. So, since writing has never been a primary way for me to express myself, but talking has, and we're all "talking" here, it's just natural that I express myself in a more "conversational" manner, using the emoticons. Oh, and blahblahblahblah. It's nice when people are writers, and naturally express themselves better that way, but I'm more of an "emoter" so...

That's exactly how I see it. Just another way to express yourself. Some of the most intelligent people give the least entertaining speeches imaginable. There are fun ways to liven up messages, and in my opinion it takes more creativity to be entertaining that to just be....literal.

And Amber, practically all of your posts show your intelligence. You are QUICK! And fearless. And tons of fun! I don't think anyone doubts your intelligence no matter how many smilies you use. I was unaware of the Mensa branch that looked down upon it. I'm still blown away by that.

I will make an effort to tone down smilies for the sake of those with sensitive systems, because I can understand that. As for the elitists ...

Kelly

[lagringader&r]

Originally Posted by ReFleetwoodMac

As for the emoticons being the only way to express true emotions, we've already had discussions about them masking our true feelings and sticking one after an angry comment, which is supposed to make it ok, things like that.

Or, the opposite. Not sticking one after an innocent comment and it not being ok. Someone even said if I had used smilies, it would have been f*cking hilarious (her words). People have different types of humor. Some are deadpan, some are pretty mainstream and safe (jokes that everybody and their 2 year old kids would get), and some are totally out there. I like the first and third of those choices, but everyone's different.

[SomeKindaMother]

Originally Posted by ReFleetwoodMac

I'm no smilie loather. Maybe you're a smilie loather loather. Ever think of that?? Anyhoo, for the sake of argument, if you, the smilie lover and user, were less intelligent than I, you would have to of course be fed to leopards.

I already articulated that I am no smilie loather loather. Perhaps you would have understood it better with the use of some entertaining illustrations. (winkie so that you know I am attempting humor; not attempting to piss you off)

I had expected you to say lions, so I must admit that I am suprised.

Kelly