Pondering effect

[Op_Cit]

Is this a new effect of the internet?

The reliance upon emiticons to interpret what others write as opposed to developing one's comprehension and open mindedness.... hmmm.

That is, do emoticons become a crutch which ultimately weakens one's ability to understand others?

When you glance at the available ones, it seems the positive ones distinctly (vastly) out number any with possible negative interpretation. Might this then subliminally lead people to assume the worst of a written statement when they are not present?

I.e. If there is not a smiley at the end of the line, "you dirty dog", must it then be interpreted as a direct, intentional insult? Or at least condescending?

Interesting....

What will become of those like me who suffer from congenital emoticoniphobia with schizo-delusional tendencies? How will others understand the terror we face everyday? Ask around, and you will find that nobody realizes that this condition is still (still!) not accepted under the American ADA.

And, how can we ever become normal without vast quantities of government dollars spent on the issue? Do you think sites like literotica will, out of simple kindness and consideration, provide an emiticon free interface that will allow us "emoticonically challenged"--if you please-- to face these pages with out the sweating, shaking, overwhelming fear?

The nightmares are the worst. ... most of it I could handle, but then... then came the dancing bananas... and... I had to get a plastic undersheet for my matress.... and now I can no longer look at a rose or tulip without loosing my lunch. Please someone... Please tell me: is it a rose or a tulip? Maybe then I can face one of these flowers in real life again...

And, no, the INstitutional form of the condition is not refered to in the manner you're thinking... jeez is that all that people think about around here?

 

[elsol]

People will jump on you with both feet...

Try not to make jokes, no one will get it.

Make no references to something that isn't known by ALL; which limits it to things like the alphabet and the number 1-9.

Hmmm... for the most part, just don't get involved in any heavy threads.

There is no tone, body language, or facial expression in the internet; it cuts communication down to 1/4th if not less.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[Dar~]

I like emoticons for the basic reasons that elsol presented, there is no body language on the internet. I like to use emoticons to show my intentions so no one feels wronged by a comment I meant as a joke.

 

[gauchecritic]

There is no tone, body language, or facial expression in the internet; it cuts communication down to 1/4th if not less.

Sincerely,
ElSol

1/10th

 

[shiresa]

couldn't resist

Boo

 

[elsol]

1/10th

1/4th for me... see I imagine anyone with a female username has really nice breasts...

That's good for 9/10ths of 1/4th the conversation for me

As for the guys, well i only read about 3 of Pure's sentences

Errr... I meant Op_cit.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[Guest]

. . . There is no tone, body language, or facial expression in the internet; it cuts communication down to 1/4th if not less.

Sincerely,
ElSol

I seem to have minimal difficulty communicating my thoughts, smilie or no.

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/zensiert/sex-smilies-blowjob.gif

 

[Guest]

I seem to have minimal difficulty communicating my thoughts, smilie or no.

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/zensiert/sex-smilies-blowjob.gif

Is she biting his dick off?

 

[English Lady]

I'm probably emoticon addicted. If you ever visited any of my old forum sites you will have seen a smilie box filled with hundreds of different smilies. When you speak to someone face to face you get alot from their non-verbal keys. Body language is important in conversation as is intonation of words, you don't get that when you type. When I don't use emoticons I use the symbols i picked up through years of chatting *L* *S* *LOL* etc as I feel to converse you need them in there somewhere as words on a page can be interpreted in many different ways if they're just left plain and unadorned.

 

[Xelebes]

I generally abstain from emoticons unless I feel condescending.

 

[Op_Cit]

I generally abstain from emoticons unless I feel condescending.

They are a bit like the laugh track on a sit com: OK folks, you should laugh here, this is funny.

And, I think your reason is the biggest for me: If I have to tell someone when I'm trying to be funny, perhaps that person is not one I should be trying to tell jokes to in the first place.

And if I have to remind people I'm not trying to offend them, then perhaps this is a more violent place than I should be... OK well, at least, that person is perhaps not someone I should be trying to reason with.

It's funny how people want so much to know the other person's intent in these forums... Like everybody's itching to get offended. But what does it matter?

No matter, I'm not trying to get people to stop using them, I'm just temporarily fascinated by the possible effects (of their use).

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Maybe if you aren't used to nonverbal communication. There is however many inflections apparent in one's written words and the more you know a person, the more can be told by their word choice and where they are joking or not. I realize that at times I must be people's worst nightmares on these threads (am I serious, joking, half-serious, or just being weird?), but for most it's easy to infer their most likely meaning. It's still easy to get in trouble by misinterpreting someone else. It's also easy to hide one's true meaning by affronted misdirection. These are the limitations of a medium without verbal cues.

However truthfully, the verbal world is not free from these misunderstandings. How many times have one of us been sarcastic in the real world and taken for face value or been in a heated argument over something that will eventually have turned out to be a misunderstanding, or simply spent a half-hour explaining how you and another person really believe the exact same thing.

I believe online communication can exist and be understood without the crutch of emoticons if we simply put forth more effort to listen to the word choices of each other, just like we do in the verbal world.

Or I might just be saying that because I converse like Puck.

 

[English Lady]

Hell, when it comes down to it Smilies are just cute and they brighten up a post.

Yes, just text can do the trick, but I for one love my smilies and a little symbol can often say more than a whole paragraph of text.

Honestly? maybe emoticons are the lazy way of getting emotions across and I'm going to use it, typing something tends to take longer than saying it and alot of typing takes a long time. A little symbol to cut down on a few minutes of typing does the trick for me.

I can pick up tone in just typing, in fact I can often tell how someone is feeling just from how they greet me, emoticons are just helpful, though they can just be a front to hide behind too I guess.

oh bugger all this typing, i'm just gonna