Emoticons

dude emoticons are to give what you're saying a certain context, the written word doesn't allow for mannerisms, tone of voice, facial expressions, any and all of the things that come with having a conversation with someone face to face or listening to their tone over the telephone.
So the world becomes a more entertaining place due to the misunderstanding of words without aid of paralinguistics. I know what they're for but I find them abhorrent. Written word never required emoticons to be used in the creation of novels, letters, telegrams.

Why bastardise a language just because it's seen as in keeping with an internet ethic. Words can covey the same things as an emotive symbol, it just takes a little more effort. Though I suspect that effort is what most people lack, it's a reason that certain individuals will post any old shit just to get the post count up, quantity over quality.

Rather than trying to be the first to reposnd to something it'd be nice if every now and then people tried to scribe the most entertaining/useful/condescending/cutting/enlightening reply.