Why do we use emoticons?

I don't like them but I find it necessary to use them when I am joking or being sarcastic on mylot. Some people never understand humor! Perhaps a smiley will save you from a negative rating occasionally.

hi Balthasar The Rat wow what a username. lol I think you may be onto something there.We do check each other's faces while we are talking a nd I have not thought much about it. It i s just something one does. but when I use an emoticon I am trying to say oh I think that is a great idea or oh no that happening is wrong. It makes me angry. I put in the correct emotican for what I am feeling while replying to v arious discussions.Sometimes I want to portray happiness or sadnees when I read what the other p erson is telling me to show how I am sympathizing with them. I too sometimes hate phones as you cannot see if the person you care for is really happy or sad as expressions tell you so much.great discussion Balthasar

I don't know about other people, but I use them because it's so easy to be misunderstood when typing (as opposed to a face-to-face conversation.) When we talk to somebody in person, they have body stance and facial clues to tell them whether they were joking, being sarcastic, or playful, etc. When we're typing out our feelings, those clues get lost, and emoticons help us get our point across without typing out long explanations, like: I'm just kidding! Wink-wink! I'm smiling. Much easier to stick a smiley in than to lol all the time. There's so many different emoticons anymore to express many different feelings. At least they help us understand where somebody is coming from in their conversation.

Oh my goodness! I use them because they brighten up the pages and make everthing look more fun! I can't bekieve that until now there were none at all on any of these responses - whatever was everyone thinking?

I use them because they are fun, make the responses/comments look more interesting, and seem more expressive sometimes than mere words on a page, especially since some of them are animated. Besides, I really like using them when there is more than one way to interpret what is written, because many times I mean what is written in most of the ways that it can be interpreted. I use them so often, in fact, that many times I find I do not have enough, because we are limited to using just three in one response/comment.

I use them because they allow me to be expressive, there are many times that I read a discussion and find that a carries someone a long way. I also find that when I am conveying sadness that the emoticon shows that I too am sad along with the discussion starter. I especially like the because it brightens up the mood of the discussion, joins in on the fun and then am out of luck because myLot won't let us add more then three. So then I am with [Cheering] as it too can add some excitement. Therefore, it is only to convey my expressions, and brighten up a page so not really compensating more so like conveying and appreciating for me.

Hi BalthasarTheRat, on account of we couldn't see the opposite side facial expression so appropriate smiley of different expression are available to compensate the flaw I suppose Or may be the smiley using is not the authentic feeling of the person speaking then as we are not talking face to face and even can't see the nuances of facial expression clearly while having communication via email or text Anyway if speaking to a person whom we are familiar with we still can get the facial expression of the person from our conversation then even we are keep in touch through cellphone I suppose. Happy posting

I see where you are coming from - but sometimes there is just no way to see each other when talking...such as mylot and long distance friends and family. I use emoticons all the time because they are cute and help relay my emotions across. Sometimes the way we word things is read differently so a happy face can let someone know we are joking and dont mean it in a bad way.

Emoticons, based from it's term, is taken from the words "emotion" and "icon". It means icons that express emotions so I believe they're there to express emotions while saying what they want. Say, for instance a user wrote "I'm having a nice day." Its meaning can vary when you add and right after it ends, I hope you can picture it right. One would mean the same thing while the other would sound sarcastic.

I use them to express feelings. They just seem nice, warm, friendly... I like 'em.

I believe so. People want to let others know how they really feel. For example, on Mylot we us the emoticons so you can the expression you would've seen if we were in person. I think, people use them to cheer people up while having a bad day. We have so many uses for the little guys. I sure hope they never go away. Best Wishes!

I use them very often in skype.The Emoticons are showing our mood or emotions.

I think these makes the post interesting and people look at the post which contain emoticon as compared to others.And it shows the expression whether the person is happy or sad.. :) :) I used these emoticons coz I like it to post on the msgs...... Thanx..

Emoticons aren't just for lack of knowing how to use your grammatical tools, they show how you feel, or how what you said should be interpreted. For example: If you're talking to your friend and you say "I hate you" they could get a little angry, however, if you say "I hate you! :D" it was meant to be interpreted as not harsh and in a joking manner. On another note I do think that they are over used sometimes but then again there is an emoticon for every feeling.