An Emoticon is
commonly used to convey emotion or voice inflection in
text conversation. In this case we are referring to actual
icon images and not the original ASCII characters
like this example:
Smile :
)
Frown :
(
If you were
to tilt your head to the left you would see the example
above is representing
a smile and a frown. These are the origins of image
emoticons and are called ASCII Emoticons. They
are still used quite frequently by lots of people today.
The icon image emoticons are a relatively new idea
and allow flexibility for better conveying variations
and
subtleties in human expression. This is because the
eye can detect more variations in an actual image compared
to ASCII symbols. You're also less likely to get a
sore neck trying to figure them out! With Image Emoticons
you rarely need a complex legend of symbol meanings
to figure out what someone is expressing.
How are emoticons different than other
icon types ?
Out of all the other icon types discussed here, emoticons tend to be the smallest
in size usually ranging from 10 x 10 to 24 x 24 pixels. Typically emoticons
are .gif format although other formats are supported depending on what program
you use.
Emoticons should accessorize text communication and not be a distraction. It's
because of this they tend to be very small in size so they complement text.
In most cases you could probably fit 4 emoticons like these inside
1 desktop icon !!!!! That
gives you some idea of the small scale.
You could probably also fit 9 or even 12 emoticons inside an Avatar.
Below is an example of AIM default image emoticons. You will see the ASCII
equivalents to the right of the image emoticons and to the right of those you
will see the description and Keyboard shortcuts.
Here is an example chat conversation using
AIM's default set of Emoticons:
Mary: Hi
Bob: How are you doing ? Mary: I don't want to chat
!?!? <--NOTE THAT MARY IS SHOWING VOICE INFLECTION. Bob: Oh.
Sorry. Mary: That's
okay. I just felt like yelling.
Free
Emoticons are available on AlienEntity and are
generally .gif format.
For the completeupdated
index go here -->> AlienEntity
Free Emoticons or visit Site
Updates.
inside
1 desktop icon 
!!!!! That
gives you some idea of the small scale.
<--NOTE THAT MARY IS SHOWING VOICE INFLECTION.
