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If you are into chatting and emailing, chances are you know all about smilie icons. Smilies add a little bit of flair and personality to an otherwise boring letter or chat session. Without these funny little icons, internet and mobile conversations wouldn’t be as appealing as they are today. So what is it about smilies that have captured the imagination of many, thereby making it a staple in everyday textual conversation? |
A History Of The Smiley
One might think that the whole story of the smiley begins with the popularization of the internet in the early 1990s. But it actually started way before that. The smiley graphic first started with an insurance salesman by the name of Harvey Ball. He devised the graphic in 1963 but he had no intentions of selling it to the world. By the time he could even think of slapping a trademark to it, the world had embraced it and the smiley was public property. In Seattle, there were claims by a David Stern that his advertising agency created the smiley and that his version was out in 1967 for an ad campaign. But even then, the smiley was never trademarked. It wasn’t until the 1970s, however, when Murray and Bernard Spain, took the smiley and sold it on novelty items including mugs and t-shirts. The brothers slapped it with the slogan "Have a happy day" and it seems this is where the connotations for what certain smilies today actually mean.
Smilies Of The Internet
Today, smilie icons are known as emoticons. They do not have to be actual smiling symbols or icons; anything that is used on the Internet by way of conversing and implying a mood is known as a smiley. For example, the characters "=)" show a smiley face and "=(" show one that is sad. But they are still both referred to as smilies. These are probably the most used on the internet. You can find them everywhere on online forums, chat rooms, social networking sites, blogs, shopping sites, etc. And the convenience of a smiley is that even though it is used to compliment a piece of conversation or a phrase, it can be used all on its own just to show a person expression. Of course, in some forums, the use of just a smiley can be considered as spam and is not welcome on many threads because of the space it wastes.
Over the years, internet chatting has become one of the most essential ways that people talk to each other. Because of this, smilies have also evolved and have become more sophisticated, created to show all sorts of facial expressions and moods. Here is a list of some of the most common ones used today:
:) (Smiling)
=) (Smiling)
(^^) (Smiling)
(^-^) (Smiling)
(",) (Smiling)
:D (Big smile)
;] (Winking)
:| (Neutral Expression)
:/ (Partial half smile)
:( (Frowning)
:'( (Crying)
:-) (Smiley with nose)
:o (Talking/Surprised)
:s (Worried/Uncertain)
:* (Kissing smilie)
:p (Poking his tongue out)
Chances are that you have used one, more, or even more of those smilies while on the Internet, chatting with friends using Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live Messenger. These two programs have even taken the concept further that when you type the characters on chat panel, they will display as graphical smilies instead of just characters typed off of the keyboard.
More smilies are being developed each day and graphics are making them even easier to use so that you don’t even have to type them but select one you want to use with the simple click of a mouse button. One thing is for sure: with or without the internet, smilie icons will continue evolving. And who knows? Maybe some day they can be considered a language all on their own.
