Help for the new boy please?

[Lew Stringer]

I take your point Raven. I'm not too happy about using emoticons myself (or should that be "I'm not ") but I use them to avoid having comments misconstrued as they have been in the past (either due to me rushing a post that came across as curt, or it being misread by someone because they were in a rush). Better to be safe than sorry.

I understand your comparison to the printed word in books, but in that context there is often descriptive text to convey the emotion. (eg: "...he suggested, in a friendly manner, hoping the words wouldn't seem confrontational".) The way I see it, an emoticon is simply a shorthand version of that.

[Raven]

I understand your comparison to the printed word in books, but in that context there is often descriptive text to convey the emotion. (eg: "...he suggested, in a friendly manner, hoping the words wouldn't seem confrontational".) The way I see it, an emoticon is simply a shorthand version of that.

I see them more like someone holding up a big placard reading "LAUGH NOW!" every time they've told a joke! A less subtle version of Jimmy Tarbuck's "Ho-ho."

[philcom55]

[Captain Storm]

Horses for courses really. If they convey the intended emotion or understanding without me having to explain in several consecutive posts what my actual original intent was , then they have served their purpose and saved me time.

The Cap.

( ...must...resist...smilies...arrghh!... )

[Peter Gray]

[PaulTwist]

Not a fan of smilies, even though I do use them. I think they can be helpful on forums as posts are often quite "stream of consciousness", whereas if you were writing a more considered piece then it'd be easier to imply intention.

Erm, or something.

(Incidentally, I don't think there was anything wrong with dwitefry's jokes. Surely implying that Prince Philip is a touch xenophobic isn't all that controversial?)

[dwitefry]

I just thought I'd say (as i started all this) that I quite like emoticons but feel that they're best kept for use with friends or in a conversational setting like MSN or Facebook Chat where you're lacking facial expressions that would be important in a real life conversation - with some exceptions.

PS: I DID spend ages reading Valiant...and Lion too.