GeekSugar

Emoticarolers Make Christmas Carols Cool

GeekSugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:00:52 -0800

Emoticarolers is the kind of thing that should be too silly for me to be into, and yet, here I am, powerless to their cute yellow faces and midi voices (or maybe I was just swayed by the fact that the parody lyrics the site offered me for "Deck the Halls" were "Deck the Halls With Flat Screen TVs").

You pick four carolers and then a classic holiday song (original or parody lyrics), and then you can send around your custom "card."

It's way less annoying than strangers showing up to your door singing while you awkwardly stand there bobbing your head.

The Digital Smiley Face Turns 25 Today : )

GeekSugar — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 09:00:37 -0700

Can you believe that the cute little smiley emoticon which we've all grown to love turns 25 today? According to The New York Times, on Sept. 19, 1982, professor Scott E. Fahlman was the first to use the three infamous keystrokes-a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis, to create a horizontal smiley face in a computer. He used it during a discussion about the limitations of online humor.

And from that, the smiley face was born as a way for computer users to convey a positive feeling and gesture through digital means. The : ) symbol has since been transformed into a yellow bubble smile like the one shown here for use in IM's and emails.

Thanks to TeamSugar cageyme for letting us know about this momentous day!

Emoticon Pillows: Totally Geeky or Geek Chic?

GeekSugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:44:22 -0800

I seem to have a love/hate relationship with emoticons. On one hand, I have a soft spot for geeky emoticon products like this shower curtain and these emoticon magnets. On the other, I frown on the overuse of emoticons, especially when it comes to dating.

You can probably guess how I feel about these Emoticon Throw Pillows ($12). There are five designs pictured, but you can also request your own favorite emoticon design. What do you think?

Emoticon Shower Curtain: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:33:34 -0700

Had I found this a week ago, this Text Talk Shower Curtain so would have been leading the geeky bathroom guide.

$15 from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, the shower curtain's little faces express happiness, distress, silliness . . .the same way you do over text and IM. My feelings about the curtain skew toward how I feel about emoticons in general: avoid unless necessary.

However, this could be the perfect bath time accessory for the texting addict. What do you think?

Tech Dating 101: What's Up With All the Emoticons?

GeekSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:10:08 -0700

I was out with a group of girlfriends last week when one of them received a text from a guy she'd gone on a few dates with. It read, "Great time last night ;)" - with the winking emoticon. Apparently after every single text he sends (and sometimes midtext, too), he includes an emoticon.

One of our friends thinks he's just being friendly, but another is convinced he's downright weird. And the friend-in question is not sure whether to accept his request to go on another date. "It's too weird!" she says. "I'm not sure what he's trying to do, but it's sort of creeping me out."

I've covered a few text-etiquette rules, like if it's appropriate to get out of a date via text and how to decode post-date texts and IMs, but what about the little day-to-day exchanges you tend to have with a potential love interest? What do all of those smiley faces mean? For more of my emoticon advice, read more.

Generally, you seem to feel emoticons are fine for personal use but not for professional. What about dating? I can see where my friend is coming from, and I've definitely decided to check myself when it comes to text and instant-message emoticon use. Turns out I use them more often than I should! I received some solid emoticon advice recently: "Don't ever use an emoticon smiley face with a guy you don't want to make out with."

I asked a few guy friends, and their answers varied from the seemingly obvious: "He types a smiley face because he's actually smiling," to the sort-of charming: "He really likes you and is trying to be endearing," to the less virtuous, "He thinks you're into him and is trying to charm you into another date."

If his emoticon use really bothers you, you could always address it . . . but risk him feeling rejected. Until he starts adding the spoken equivalent of emoticons into regular conversation (think: "I'm sorry you can't hang out later. Sad face."), it's probably not worth getting worked up over. If you simply can't take it anymore, you could always try calling him instead. Have you ever dated an overzealous emoticoner? Is it ever cute? Or just annoying?

Do you have a Love 2.0 questioned like this you want answered? Join the Tech Dating 101 because we understand that love and dating are stressful, and the Internet and social networking sites can just make things worse. You never know, your question could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Emoticon Magnets: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:44:22 -0700

I know I've mentioned my avoid-unless-necessary feelings on emoticons several times, not to mention calling a guy out over his emoticon use (to which most of you responded my friend should chill out).

You loved this emoticon shower curtain; do you feel the same way about these emoticon magnets ($15)? They're 2.5 inches in diameter, so they'll definitely make a statement on the fridge. What do you think?

How Do You Feel About Emoticons?

GeekSugar — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:14:36 -0700

I have such a love-hate relationship with emoticons. On the one hand, they're harmless little icons that add a bit of cuteness, and on the other hand, they're tools of passive aggressive communication.

Overly dramatic? Well, have you ever gotten a negative or critical sounding IM from a colleague or friend. . . punctuated with a happy face? Sometimes people use them to take the weight off of a potentially negative message, but in my experience, it almost always backfires and makes the message seem even worse, like you're smugly smirking when you're saying it.

My advice for using emoticons is to only use them if they fit the tone you're already using. Don't use them to change your tone, because it probably will - but not in the way you want it to.

Think I take emoticons too seriously? I'm not the only one - there have been studies that show that emoticons mean different things to different cultures.

Do You Think Emoticons Carry Cultural Baggage?

GeekSugar — Wed, 16 May 2007 04:01:35 -0700

A recent study used the hypothesis that facial cues in different parts of the face are interpreted differently based on an individual’s cultural background. The researchers confirmed this, with a study that found emoticons - as in the text-turned funny faces used in text messages, e-mail and instant messenger to replicate emotions and attitudes - are in fact interpreted differently depending on cultural factors.

Arstechnica notes the study found a culture's interpretation of facial expressions is dependent upon a combination of the culture's emotional openness and the challenge of controlling certain facial muscles. Here's more:

Given that the eyes are more difficult to control than the mouth when people express emotions, we predicted that individuals in cultures where emotional subduction is the norm (such as Japan) would focus more strongly on the eyes than the mouth when interpreting others’ emotions. By contrast, we predicted that people in cultures where overt emotional expression is the norm (such as the US) would tend to interpret emotions based on the position of the mouth, because it is the most expressive part of the face.

I have never been a huge fan of emoticons, mostly because I think our texting etiquette and habits are in fact lessening our writing abilities. I do, however, agree that emoticons are less universal than we might have thought, and that what looks like "money mouth" or "frown" to me might look like something else entirely to someone down the street or across the globe.

Google Adds Colorful (and Animated) Emoticons to Gmail!

GeekSugar — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:04:33 -0700

What's with Google rolling-out all the Gmail upgrades lately? First with the Gmail Mobile Enhancements and now Gmail finally has emoticons? Whatever their reasons, I'm just glad they did!

To start using these colorful cartoons, just click on the smiley face located in the formatting toolbar when you are composing an email (if you don't see it, make sure you have rich formatting turned on and sign out and sign back in), and start clicking away to add wonderful emoticons to your emails!

Emoticon Magnets: Love or Leave?

GeekSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:45:12 -0700

Whether you use emoticons or not (personal preference, completely), these hand-embroidered Emoticon Magnets ($15) will make you crack a smile.

Because they're complex beings, each one is expressing a different emotion in a different color. I want to hate these, but I just can't. Is it the bright colors? What do you think?