How to Avoid Misleading Emoticons

They're a great way to add pep to text or "humanize" an online communication, but the use of emoticons in web speech is sometimes controversial. Some argue for the use of these little "digital faces" as clarifying emotion, contending that words can also be misleading. But others think the emoticon visuals can be misleading in terms of the writer's emotion. Problems with misleading emoticons include characters that are too open to multi-use, and creating ASCII (common text) emoticons that are too complex. Stay away from "problem emoticons" by thinking about how you will use these little characters to express yourself on the web.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Don't use overcomplicated ASCII emoticons. ASCII is the "old school" way of illustrating emotion before the stylized .gif type characters appeared on the scene. Some, like the smiley made by a colon and a paranthetic mark, like this :) are pretty straightforward, but others involving four or more characters can get pretty abstract. Obscure emoticons like <:ox (clown wearing bow-tie??) can be as esoteric as the old ASCII acronyms like ROFL and AFK.

2. Don't substitute emoticons for words. A message saying simply ":o" is pretty hard to figure out. Sometimes, you can let emoticons speak for themselves, but other times, your reader will be scratching his/her head.

3. Stick with "stock" characters. Whether you're using ASCII or .gifs, the regular smiley :) and frowny :< emoticons usually convey their messages pretty well (in the right context).

4. Be discriminate. There are cases where it pays to choose your emoticons carefully. In communications where the outcome is really high-stakes, a ://can be either clear or confusing. When the chips are down, spell out your concerns in letters and words.

5. Provide a context. Linking an emoticon to the line just before it is the most popular way to let the reader know what the illustration pertains to in a text. Phrases like "What a nice day :)" are clear uses of the smiley. But putting an emoticon out of order or not in context can have unintended consequences.