Emotions Run Wild

Caution! Upcoming Rant on: Emoticons

We've all done it. Put a little :) after you say "Have a good night", just to make sure the person on the other end knows you have good intentions. :P makes you such a goof! People will love you! :D You're so happy! It must be because you use emoticons! MSN, and other messanger programs, have truly has affected our lives in the way we communicate through text. However, since the wave of the emoticons, there have been ads for new and more exciting emoticons for you to use! I mean, if :P makes you popular, an even bigger and flashier one will make you the life of the party!



You've seen the ads before. They're along the side of quizyourfriends.com, along with many other high volume websites. They flash, they move, they're almost lifelike! I mean, if real life has big yellow spheres rolling their eyes, throwing up, or crying puddles. The only 'real life' I can think of where that would be possible is in Wal-Mart commercial land, and no one wants to be there (that's a seperate rant altogether).



What I have to ask is do the ads really work? Somehow I would think against them, and would imagine they are a waste of money, as ad space isn't free. When I first saw the ads, I thought they were annoying, and over time I've grown to despise them. Nowhere in that process was I excited about new 3D emoticons. "Oh boy! I can express my emotions even flashier than before! Everyone will love me!"



Although I, too, use "smileys", I find them to be very transparent. Is it that hard to determine a mood or a tone online? And if so, what are we missing out by calling people and/or talking to people in person? I think this comes down to using language that people can understand and relate to. Those of us with bad grammar, vocubulary, or both are leading us down the path to only speaking in emoticon.

So call someone! Go visit someone! As a late New Years' resolution, I'm going to do just that. I'll make the world a little more emoticon-free.

Have a good night. ;)

--Jam