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Old 10-01-2004, 08:54 PM   #1
Lhunardawen
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Silmaril

Indeed. I normally use when I'm trying to mock my own post (stupid as that sounds), but when I read my post it turns out to make me sarcastic. And it's hard to be sarcastic here in the Downs, because you never know who you might offend.
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Old 10-02-2004, 01:51 PM   #2
Evisse the Blue
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stirring the smiley pot...

That's a good topic, HI!

Indeed these smiles pose a bit of a problem: they are too restrictive (that coming from one, who, admitedly, has quite a weakness for smilies as diverse and funny as possible). But, I realize this is a serious forum and should live up to its reputation by not having an abundance of smilies and icons. The problem comes indeed when one is misunderstood in the use of smilies, and the entire message is therefore misunderstood.

BW argued that the meaning of the smilies is decided by the context, but more often it's quite the opposite way around. For instance, (hypothetical example) if I see a message that argues the importance of canonical-based fanfic, followed by the stick out tongue smiley, I'll obviously assume the person actually intended to say the opposite. But if I see it followed by the ambiguous smilie who rolls his eyes, I'm left not knowing what to assume: either that the person is mocking his/her own post, or that she/he rolls eyes at those who might think otherwise, or maybe that she/he is feeling very ****ed.

I've almost never used the sarcastic smiley, I much oftener settle for this one: : p, who (in my acception) means that I'm making light of the situation, and that what I said shouldn't be taken too seriously. This same meaning I attribute to this smiley here: (regardless of how it looks like someone getting poked in the eye ). Speaking of : D , for me it has a clear message of being very amused, laughing, or making a joke. While this one: may indicate a more moderate level of amusement, but I always use it as a sign of approval (towards a post, a point of view), or friendliness, to atenuate what might be taken as a harsh remark, or just to accompany the routine of the quiz room's overused phrases like 'correct', 'your turn' etc.

So, what's to be done?
Remove labels is a suggestion, but I must confess that I didn't pay too much attention to these labels; I do let the context spell it out for me, but most of the times I seem to reach a wrong conclusion as to the nature of the message, the person's disposition, and so may other people when reading my 'smilied' posts.
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Last edited by Evisse the Blue; 10-02-2004 at 01:55 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 10-03-2004, 03:16 AM   #3
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If I remember right, the Chief Wight mentioned somewhere that he intentionally chose that only a limited number of smilies be allowed for us Downers to use, so that we could be able to exercise conveying what we really mean through words. As I can attest to, smilies have a way of filling the void of appropriate emotion in a certain post, especially when I can't find the right words (or when I feel lazy having to think about it *blush*). But we have all noticed that these very things that are supposed to make things easier for us tend to complicate matters. So I guess we have to exert more effort to make our posts clearer. We could imagine there are no smilies at our disposal, and words are our only instruments for communication.

And just a suggestion, could the use of asterisks that contain expressions be used instead? I've kind of gotten used to using it. *sheepish grin*
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Old 04-05-2005, 04:19 PM   #4
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Good grief, I only realize now that this smiley is supposed to mean "sarcastic" !! (I know it from another forum, and there it's just called "roll-eyes".Somehow the description here has hitherto escaped my notice.)
I've used it countless times, but of course I never meant to be sarcastic !! (I seriously hope I haven't offended or confused anyone... *blushes*)
For me *rolling eyes* means :I wonder, or I'm unsure or: Hm, what could it mean? or I'm thinking hard.
In any case, if I ever say something sarcastic (which hardly ever happens), I'm not rolling my eyes!
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Old 04-05-2005, 04:43 PM   #5
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White-Hand Hello, my name is Aina and I'm a smilie-oholic...

But I haven't touched a smilie in over 9 months...*sighs in relief* I'm going to be okay.

No, that's a lie. I never liked Emoticons because they were yet another thing to remember when either posting or chatting it up on MSN. I never mastered the text based ones either, and I much prefer to just write down what I would have said (though maybe a little grander because I have more time to think) and usually I have no problems. I understand the need for some validation of a funny post or mocking, but then, maybe some of you have seen my version of such emotion:

(Smilie boycott: Cheeky Grin) Which is essentially the same thing. It is just as simple anyway.

I don't hate smilies, but it's always fun to play-boycott stuff. Anybody want to join my rally?

Most of this forum's posts are written either persuasively or descriptively, and both ways are pretty easy to write in and don't require the help of little illustrations. It's when the posts go to something else. When you're reading an essay, for example, certainly smilies would be inappropriate and discredit the writer. When we have conversations, however, such clear signals are needed. A conversation is the connection between two or more people, right? So in a sense you're speaking to someone or someones specifically, so you would have to use more personal language so that your tone and mood would be clear to your listeners, or in this case, your readers. When one is expressing themselves not in conversation, such personal connections are not required, and the art of written language takes care of everything.

So I guess, it's the difference between the kind of post your're posting.
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Old 05-08-2005, 01:43 PM   #6
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I usually associate; , and with a sarcastic comment. Because you can't always get you're tone of voice across in typing. Unless you rite "*SARCASUM*".
So, I always use them for that.
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Old 05-08-2005, 02:03 PM   #7
Eruanna
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I had no idea that is meant to convey sarcasm! I have always used that particular smiley to indicate that I've somehow made a stupid error or been a doofus of some description! Colour me (confused)
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