Forums Experiment: Output.

[old.Tohtori]

Well those who haven't noticed, there's been something missing from my posts after santamas.

Smilies.

I did this for, almost three months now and i'd like some feedback.

Mainly:

- Does sarcasm come through without smilies?
- Do you take comments more aggressively without them?
- Do some "snipy" comments sound less funny without them?
- Does the lack of smileys 'cause one to sound more grumpy in general?
- General input ofcourse welcome.

Poll will be about "Does the lack of smilies work in general", taking into consideration all points and such. It's more towards, can one post completely without them, or should they be used in moderation to convey the facial expressions that lack in forum posting?

 

[Levin]

- Does sarcasm come through without smilies?
- Do you take comments more aggressively without them?
- Do some "snipy" comments sound less funny without them?
- Does the lack of smileys 'cause one to sound more grumpy in general?
- General input ofcourse welcome.

On a board like this, I definately think they are needed. Posts made in light mood otherwise become serious looking and a neutral comments could indeed look grumpy and aggressive. I think there's a reason smileys, when introduced, became so popular - they gave people a tool to be more expressionate in writing. It makes it a LOT easier for other people to know in which way to interpret things like sarcasm, irony, sympathy and jest.

That said however, sometimes leaving out smileys can add power to your statement, if you really do intend to be serious. Or if you just want to make a dry comment/joke, leaving out smileys works too.

That's my take on it at least. Hope it helps your investigation.

 

[swords]

YouTube - The 'smiley' intervention
[youtubevid]NVOFmu2ZIqI[/youtubevid]

 

[Sparx]

i have fallen for the lack of smiley thing a few times, so yes i think they should be used

 

[Dukat]

Definately required I think - the lack of smileys in a post normally points to it being more serious in nature, unless its obvious from the text its often taken as such I think.

Smileys to me are important because they indicate you arent really pissed off; for example:

FUCK YOU TOH!!!!!

Looks pretty angry to me, however:

FUCK YOU TOH!!!!!

Looks to me more like its the sort of joking around exclaimation made by friends when they're messing around. The only difference between the two is a smiley, but it changes the attitude of the sentence quite significantly.

I think smileys are really important because text just isnt very good for conveying how you mean things to sound - for some people its worse than others, I find it difficult to put what I want to say into words at the best of times, so its quite difficult to have to rely on text with no bodylanguage to back it up, hence smileys are quite helpful for me, in games/chat programs I tend rely on smileys in most sentences.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Aye, it's a very general opinion on the matter. Smilies are the equivalent of facial expressions.

I've also noticed the same thing that's a "problem" with people, that jokes and especially sarcasm doesn't convey without the use of smilies.

It's been a very interesting experiment as such.

The only thing i've noticed, that's a positive thing, is that you start to write more "neutrally" and try not to write sarcastic or even "slightly insulting" things since you can't convey that you're not serious. Basically you become a bit more "nice". Personally noticed that is.

A fun experiment, but i think it's time to close the book on it, take the noticed facts and as a "celebration"...


F*ck you all :worthy:

 

[tris-]

my conclusion is that youre too fucking up your self!
no one gives a shit, no one cares and id be suprised if anyone even noticed these things unless theyre stalking you and keeping "tohtori observations" in their "my first tohtori observation log".
i didnt read the post btw, only up till "i changed this 3 months ago"

 

[old.Tohtori]

my conclusion is that youre too fucking up your self!
no one gives a shit, no one cares and id be suprised if anyone even noticed these things unless theyre stalking you and keeping "tohtori observations" in their "my first tohtori observation log".
i didnt read the post btw, only up till "i changed this 3 months ago"

Well, since you didn't read it through, i won't hold that against you.

It's not about "look at me!", it's just an explanation that leads to the question and as such, also gives someone the possibility to say "i did notice and...".

Also it was said, "for those who didn't notice".

 

[tris-]

so theres no such thing as a "my first tohtori observation book" ?

 

[old.Tohtori]

so theres no such thing as a "my first tohtori observation book" ?

No, but i'm not denying the existance of a "M.F.T.O.L."

 

[tris-]

o ffs self owned

 

[Ezteq]

hehe i like the poking and the twaking ones


:touch: <-- see, they just pwn