Communication & Emoticons Essay

Communication through the use of computer and the Internet used to be impersonal and largely for business-related tasks. With the formation of chat rooms, social interaction in the Internet became commonplace even creating a culture of its own. This culture evolved to include emoticons as a way of expressing emotions that otherwise would have been impossible to show. Emoticons become the electronic equivalent of a person’s reactions that could only be shown in a face-to-face interaction. In business communication, emoticons are seldom used unless the correspondents are close acquaintances. If they are used, it is often limited to the smiley icon to soften what otherwise would sound a stern message. In chat rooms and informal communications, more than 50 emoticons are available to make the conversation or message come alive. A person can use an emoticon for being angry, pleased, confused, sarcastic, and surprised using icons that are already made embedded in chat rooms or e-mail servers. Other emoticons can also be made using a few key strokes. While emoticons have become part of electronic interaction, many people still could not understand their use and implication. Often, only the Internet savvy use emoticons among themselves. In the older generation, emoticons in e-mail messages do not illicit the same response, rather, they could be the possible source of confusion. D’Addario says in a research article that the smiley faces, one type of emoticon, does not affect the emotional response of most e-mail message readers. This indicates that while emoticons have become part of electronic social communication, its impact on people would vary. Some people may find themselves understanding the mood of the party, others will be indifferent, while some would not understand. Reference D’Addario, K. P. Do Those Little â€Å"Smiley-Faces† In Electronic Mail Have An Effect On The Reader? Retrieved October 8, 2008, from http://www. macobserver. com/kpd/emoticonpaper. html