April 8, 2012
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Behind the Emoticon
The many faces of the modern human behind the Emoticons and text expressions:
lol
LOL
lmao
rofl
Hahahahah
hehe
:O
:S
I wonder if in the future we’ll lose the ability to show emotion
heheTo be honest I actually genuinely emote quite a lot while typing and will often only choose a more expressive symbol or abbreviation if I actually chuckled to myself or smiled, but even when I actually laugh at something I’ve read it’s often (obviously i suppose) much more subdued than normal.
So how much emotion do you show while commenting or chatting?
Comments (35)
I don’t actually show a lot of emotion while chatting, but if it’s something really funny, then I’ll giggle or smile
Nice work
Enough that my family often wants to come and read what I’m responding too
this was very funny. and i did what i usually do when i’m reading stuff… big stupid grin.
Hahaha, this gave me a chuckle
I have a mild smile on my face most of the time… or, if I’m reading something I disagree or dislike, then it’s a “WTF” face… not sure how to describe what that looks like hahaha.
Hope you’re having a good day!
Are you pulling my leg
, do you expect me to say straight out that you posted several photos with the same expression?
If this is one of the moronic satires or exercise in futility, that would get me to stop subscribing to you…..oh wait I don’t subcribe to you and never have I ever been your friend.
Yes I am easily bored. Disregard what I previously wrote and may the Easter rabbit drop some brown stuff on you…..
This reminds me of a conversation I had online a while back wherein I presumed that most people who type “lol” are not, in fact, “laughing out loud.” Perhaps at most they are chuckling quietly to themselves. Or giggling. But I have never seen anyone ROFLMAO in real life so I assume that when people are typing that they don’t really mean it. The person with whom I was conversing replied by typing “lol” and I replied, “LIAR!”
That said, I really did chuckle at this. And I really do chuckle quietly at many things I find humorous. When I’ve actually laughed out loud, I make sure to inform the poster that I am genuine. I don’t, however, wink as much in real life as I do online, though my smiles are usually the real thing.
About the same as you do
The camera captured your emotions perfectly
oh bede, hehe
(: (: (: (: (:
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
possibly just like how you usually chat with me.
I actually do lol when I say I do
but it’s just too easy to make me laugh or blush :O I’m really very expressive and easy to read, you can ask MArio (rulerodmasons or stupid_systemus) I’m very much the same all the time 
So that’s what you look like when you lol and
. I was wondering about that. I’m very expressive so when I use the emoticons, it’s usually bc that’s what I’m doing or thinking of doing. 
What?
This is my face —–> ^_^
ALL the time.
Did you just woke up when you took that picture?
Hahahaha I love this post<3 A box of virtual chocolates for you!
LOL.
Okay … I’m not really laughing out loud, but this post really made me smile. =D
I often use a
or 
to show that I am not as strict or serious as it would come across otherwise. Or simply that I am in a good mood.. I think I use lol the most often, even when I am not laughing. I say lol when I find somethingweird, when I can relate, when I want to say I find something funny, when I want to indicate that you are supposed to find something funny, when I am being sarcastic and when I find something actually worth laughing about. I even use it as a word in spoken language. lol. 
when I want to tease someone and 
when I am either very pleased with myself or something is quite funny. I mainly use the sad smiley when I evidently exagerrate…I find it so indequte to use it when someone died or something.
I try to not overuse it, but I observe that I use emotinicos a lot on Xanga, because my coment are lways filled with these bright little pictures.
yesterday I came downstairs grinning and my mo was like: “been on the internet already?” and was like “yeah why?” “you look like you read something funny!”
I have literally ROFLMAO because I fell off my chair. I had to type it in afterward.
When on webcam, I don’t need the emoticons, bu5 sometimes, it’s fun to have sentences with emoticons to see if anyone notices my (terrible) pokerface.
@xdeelynnx - Yea thats sort of similar to me, but i’ve started being a bit more emotive as i’ve gotten used to it.
@KnightInCROATIANarmor - hehe thanks
<—yes i really did smile slightly)
@tsh44 - :) hehe
@promisesunshine - :D for some reason the thought of someone else grinning at the computer screen made me grin too lol
@Cestovatelka - Having a lovely day so far, infact most days recently have been good for some reason
haha yea not sure what the WTF face is but I’ve pulled it a couple times when reading posts
@Aloysius_son - Lol that pretty much covers it i’d say.
@SaintBlue1131 - grinning at the computer screen is contagious. i think.
is my favorite. because that’s my face.
@leaflesstree - i don’t like lol either. i do laugh out loud plenty. but. ick. i prefer: snort, guffaw, giggle. unfortunately, i think i have no sense of humor today.
@PPhilip - Hahaha well although it was all of what you said…it’s also interesting to notice that if you look at the images and the emoticons it almost seems like the expression changes :O…or it seemed that way to me.
Lol and I’ll be sure not to walk under any easter bunnies
@leaflesstree - hahaha thats a good one
It always gets tricky when you add video into the mix because then you can see the ‘real’ responce…usually with a time delay
@lucylwrites - :)
@Somefishytales - Hahaha yea it’s somewhat alarming to see pics of my self…that seems to be my default expression
@AgainstTheWind1 - :D indeed.
@wyrdkismet - :P
@fabolousclown - Hahaha nope you always manage to make be actually laugh
lol
But it must be even harder for you to do the right emotion for your smilies, since they are upside down
@MzKeekz - Haha yea I did manage to win the only poker game i’ve ever played for money…but i think that was because of blind luck not the face
@xXxlovelylollipop - Hehehe must be fun to watch you browsing Xanga then
@livexlovexlaughter - Aww good
I think it’s best to be genuinely expressive…sadly I was born in England and so have lost all ability to be warm lol 
@I_love_Burma - Hahaha
Well said <3
@sparklerice - Haha that must be painful lol
@Hdyhadon - No actually thats form my trip, I’d just come out of the Orchestra when i took it…I took about three shots of myself during the trip…they ALL looked like that hahaha
@simplysuzu - hehe
good!
@under_the_carpet - Yea I’m very similar to you…except i don’t use the colourful ones lol
But the choices of face to emotion or mood is similar, it’s interesting just how many emotions we assign to such simple symbols.
And I have to admit i actually laughed at the thought of using a sad smilie for a dead person
thats just so wrong lol
@should_I_Tell_You - Hahah what was it that made you fall off your chair?
Lol that was pretty funny. I usually show emotions while I’m sitting behind my laptop. From sad faces after having read sad/bad news, to cracking up with tears in my eyes after read/seeing/hearing something funny. =] ( <— I’m really smiling when I type a =] )
Your emoticons are so stereotype…
@SaintBlue1131 - you know we ALWAYS laugh!!
Most of the time, I use emoticons if I smile or chuckle, or in an attempt to make a sitaution less tense. The thing is, genuine displays of emotion are very short lasting and cannot be consciously controlled (unless you’re a sociopath or an actor). In that case, you might actually be subtlely showing how you’re feeling without actually realizing it, unless you really aren’t feeling anything but feel that an emoticon is appropriate there. Psychologists that are trained to watch for movements of all the muscles in the face can tell.
@SaintBlue1131 – oh yes… I smile through the pain *^_^* lolz
very nice faces! Of course i’m going to have you making some sad faces after the update i did on XL/BAD
yea though, it can depends, sometimes i show lots of it.. sometimes.. not much at all lol
okay, that cracked me up.
@o0_Gina_0o - Haha well I don’t go that far, but it’s good that some people still engage to that extent online
@RestlessButterfly - lol
@naughty_virgin - :O whow cool answer!
So I wonder if we more conciously choose to express an emotion when we choose one to type…I often find myself rethinking the thing i’m commenting to and then emoting while responding…will this makes us all better actors….or just sociopat’s lol
@Twiztidsilverskull - Depends on if you’re wearing your many masks or not
@somewhatabstractelf - :D That fills me with an surprising sense of achievement…not sure why but i’m glad you liked it
@SaintBlue1131 - I can’t remember if it was a joke or an awkward conversation because this was maybe 9 years ago for me. I remember the experience more than the event. Yay for irl roflmao moments.