Emoticons – Adding Flavor To Online Communication

An emoticon textually portrays a writer's mood or expression. A simple sentence can have multiple interpretations, if we do not convey the tone of our message with the help of emoticons. A simple joke can be taken as a rude expression, if not supported by an emoticon. The word 'Emoticon" has been formed by adding two words - emotion and icon. Nowadays, images corresponding to text emoticons are also considered in the category of emoticons.

It was in 1953 when an ad for a movie appeared in a leading newspaper, when an early instance of emoticon was spotted in New York. In 1970s, people on the PLATO systems were seen making use of emoticons. From a simple smiling or frowning face to portrayal of complex feelings, the list of emoticons has expanded beyond measure. A list of free emoticons is widely available on internet.

The first person said to have made a documented use of emoticons : - ) and : - ( was Scott Fahlman who is said to have posted a text message on a computer science board in Carnegie Mellon University using emoticons. In a short time the use of these emoticons was spread to the ARPANET and Usenet.

Nowadays, there are many websites that have started offering free emoticons and winks for messenger, considering its great demand. These free emotions are a part and parcel of many informal written communications today. There are different styles of emoticons available.

With the usage of free emoticons in our daily life, to represent not only our free emotions, but also to represent some important piece of information, many styles of emoticons have found their usage. Let's have a glance on the various styles of emoticons that are popular.

Styles of Emoticons
===>Western Style: A western style is read from left to right. The most common emoticon : - ) is a western style emoticon representing eyes, nose and smile. Western styles have the ability to convey various moods and expressions like winking, loving, smiling, confusion, state of shock, etc.

===>Eastern Style: The eastern style of emoticons has been developed by the users of East Asia. These do not require you to tilt your head on the left side. This style was first observed in Japan in 1986. One of the most common emoticon of this style is *_*.

===>Korean Style: The Korean style, using Korean Hangul letters, was developed in South Korea. It contains Korean jamos (letters) to convey feelings. With the use of Korean jamos, countless number of combinations can be formed.

===>Other Styles: There are various other styles of emoticons that work with different applications. In this way, emoticons can be classified as graphic style, adult style and text style. The graphic style of emoticons is meant for applications that support graphs. Adult emoticons represent various adult feelings like a nasty joke, naughty smiley and other erotic emotions.

Many such styles of free emoticons and winks for messenger are widely available on the internet and are frequently used to convey various moods and emotions.

The use of emoticons has become virtually indispensable in any piece of instant messaging today. Let us see what benefits do these small and funny texts, graphics and images have on instant messaging and online communication.

Benefits of Using Emoticons?
----->Emoticons Add Empathy and Enjoyment: When chatting with friends, colleagues and relatives over a distance, the use of emoticons make the whole experience very lively. A careful use of emoticon can pacify an intense discussion and can turn atmosphere light. Similarly an emoticon conveying your care can lighten up a dull atmosphere.

----->Makes Communication More Effective: No communication, textual or verbal, seems to be complete without the use of right emoticons. It is human nature that information that is supported by emotional cues is retained by the mind for a longer time as compared to vice versa. Thus, the use of emoticons helps in making communication more effective.

----->Gives Emotional Cues: We can derive emotional cues easily with the use of emoticons in online communication. Whenever information of personal nature is exchanged, the use of emoticons helps bringing people closer. Sometimes, the use of emoticons helps in conveying some free emotions better than what words can express.

----->Affects Interpretation in Instant Messaging: Besides increasing the richness of messages in informal types of communication, emoticons have been said to have a positive affect on the interpretation in instant messaging. Many experiments have also been conducted on various platforms to find out the degree of this affect.

Now that you know about emoticons being quite instrumental in affecting interpretation and giving emotional cues, try to make a wise use of them in your informal communication. Also take care of selecting the right emoticon for exchange of. A wrong use can adversely affect the richness of communication. You can download such free emoticons from website of Bandoo for more variety and spice.

You may want to know more about free emoticons at my another lens here