Emoticons

This page considers emoticons and some acronyms used in messaging systems.

It covers -

• introduction
• acronyms
• studies

     introduction

Emoticons are a mechanism for conveying emotional states in email, SMS, instant messaging (IM) and chat systems - electronic environments where language may be informal, exchanges may be rapid and cues are useful for determining the sense of communications.

Early emoticons were text-based - typically a set of characters that when grouped together and viewed from the side resembled a a facial expression - but major IM systems now offer graphic versions, annoyingly animated or otherwise.

Some enthusiasts have added 'pictographs - representations of individuals (such as 'Elvis') or objects (eg a rose) - to supplement depictions of emotional states.

Emoticons are as much a shibboleth as a direct signifier of meaning and some concerns expressed by critics such as Lynn Truss are misplaced. She commented in Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (2004) that

Just add the right emoticon to your email and everyone will know what self-expressive effect you thought you kind-of-had in mind. Anyone interested in punctuation has a dual reason to be aggrieved about smileys, because not only are they a paltry substitute for expressing oneself properly; they are also designed by people who evidently thought the punctuation marks on the standard keyboard cried out for an ornamental function.

Use has bled outwards from early network users to most of the online population, with particular emoticons featuring in email, text messages and chat involving people over 50 and members of the professions.

Selected symbols include

Variations abound, eg :) versus :-)

     acronyms

Texting has similarly spawned a range of acronyms, such as

which are reminiscent of the 'telegraphese' used by businesses, officials and ordinary consumers in days when telegrams were charged by the digit.

     studies

Salient studies include Nancy Baym's 'The performance of humor in computer mediated communication' paper in 1(2) Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, Lynn Cherny's Conversation & Community: Chat in A Virtual World (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni Press 1999), Franklin Krohn's 2004 'A Generational Approach to Using Emoticons as Nonverbal Communication' in 34 Journal of technical writing and communication, Joseph Walther & Kyle D'Addario's 2001 'The impacts of emoticons on message interpretation in computer-mediated communication' in 19(3) Social Science Computer Review, Giuseppe Riva's 2002 'The Sociocognitive Psychology of Computer-Mediated Communication: The Present and Future of Technology-Based Interactions' in 5(6) CyberPsychology & Behavior, Ulla Bunz' 2002 'Accommodating Politeness Indicators in Personal Electronic Mail Messages' (PDF), Smiljana Antonijevic's 2006 'Expressing Emotions Online: An Analysis of Visual Aspects of Emoticons' and Susan Herring's 'Computer-mediated discourse' in The Handbook of Discourse Analysis (Oxford: Blackwell 2001) edited by Schiffrin, Tannen & Hamilton. Other works, such as Rosalind Picard's Affective Computing (Cambridge: MIT Press 1997), are highlighted here.

The 2008 Writing, Technology & Teens: The Findings of the Pew Internet Project and the National Commission on Writing report (here) polled US kids in the 12 to 17 year old cohort, reporting that 38% used "chat-speak" such as ROFL in exams and homework.




::