How do people type without using smilies? o.O?

Question

Okay, so maybe the one I used in the title question (o.O) is a little unnecessary. But it seems that whenever I'm typing conversationally, I feel the urge to insert smilies and emoticons to change the mood of the sentence. If I would smile at the end of the sentence, I go =). If I want to indicate that I'm being silly, I go =P. Facial expressions are a key part on communication, as is vocal inflection. Yet, people still say I'm immature and silly for using them in my text. With typing, you get neither of these, and without them, your meaning is often misunderstood. 

For instance, an emoticon can completely change the meaning of a sentence:

You're so stupid!

You're so stupid! =P

If you saw the first one up on your facebook wall, you'd be upset. If you saw the second one, you'd know they were joking. There are other instances where it's convenient to use an emoticon to get your meaning across... so why am I immature for using something that helps accurately convey my meaning?

Melvin · Accepted Answer

You are not being immature! Gah! You are being *practical*. The deaf used the equivalent of smilies over the text telephone (TTY) long before smilies were invented. Here is an example conversation (QQ = question mark; GA = go ahead; SK = suggest hang up; SKSK = actually hanging up, now):

HELLO  WELCOME TO SEARS AUTOMOTIVE MY NAME IS JOHN HOW MAY I HELP YOU SMILE QQ GA

i am not very happy with my belts they are still slipping frown ga

SORRY WE LL BE HAPPY TO ADJUST THEM FOR YOU  SMILE  WHEN WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME IN QQ GA

as soon as possible how about 3 pm today qq ga

OKAY WE LL SEE YOU AT 3 PM SORRY FOR YOUR INCONVENIENCE IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE QQ SMILE GA

no i ve never had any problems with you in the past i ll be there at 3 have a good morning bye ga to sk

THANK YOU SMILE YOU TOO BYE SKSK
 
SKSK

The words describing emotional context were necessary since the voice could not be used for inflection. Without inflection, communications breakdowns occur easily. The online community discovered what the deaf community already knew from text telecommunication. If someone calls you immature, just ask them if they would rather read three times as much text as you set up the emotional context with straight typing. That should :-x them!

~JennyBunny~ · Answer

Exactly! I hate when people criticize me for using emoticons. It's not like I over do them. This is the internet and not some school paper, so I'd like my writing to have a personality similar to speech sometimes. But some people are just haters :P

lol :D

AmiaBaby · Answer

Same thing goes for using "lol" and "haha" when you text or IM. I was talking to someone for the first time through text the other day and they didn't use smileys or any kind of indication of how they were trying to make the text sound. It was so confusing! I felt like I was annoying them with all the lol's and haha's and it was just awkward texting them. It makes the conversation much more light and playful. Idk why people don't do it!

? · Answer

Lmao I guess because their not used to it, and them not being used to it they think it's weird but why not put a smile in a conversation its not an important business meeting or a homework assignment right (:? So yeah I agree. Maybe some people just like to take things serious ;P

→Mav← · Answer

You know, I don't think you are immature for using the smileys as it is a little difficult to know exactly what a person's tone is when they are typing to you since you can't see them, or hear them physically (unless you're chatting via webcam). I think smileys are a great way to communicate informally with others. Those that find you immature for using them need to let their inner child free and deal with the smileys! =D

How do people type without using smilies? o.O?

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