By Alyssa Askeland

Facebook is changing the way we communicate. Many of our interactions are now over the internet instead of in person.  So most people use emoticons when typing to express their feelings and what they would be doing with their expressions if they were talking face-to-face.  From a  : ) to a >:(  you’ll find an emoticon for all occasions.

The Internet seems to have its own dictionary. Phrases have become acronyms (BRB, LOL) and “like buttons” have replaced what our words used to say.  It’s easy to read something differently then the author intended it to be.  A compliment like “Oh, by the way, love your outfit today” could turn into a snippy “Oh, by the way, love your outfit today.”  Can you “read” the difference?

With e-mail and facebook chat, it’s easy to read things the wrong way.  The person on the other end could be enthusiastic but reading it you hear nothing but monotone blandness. Or, you end up thinking that person is a total jerk. Internet truly is its own format. But do  “;)” and “:)” really make things better? Yes, yes they do. An emoticon can change a reader’s understanding of a sentence. I mean, nobody with upset emotions could type     : P because it is just too ridiculous.

People use smiley faces and even the ubiquitous “: P” and “XD.”  No matter how much one may resent them, they seem to pop up in everyday cyberspace conversations. Emoticons roam computer screens everywhere; they are even starting to pop up in letters and hand written notes.

Using the computer is a modern day essential for human beings around the globe. From email to facebook, games to online shopping, everybody is using it and everybody uses those special emoticons every once in a while.  For most people, the cuteness of these little “critters” was enough to get their fingers typing the parenthesis and colon, but for the rest of the world, it’s just now starting to come as second nature.  Will the madness of the emoticon phase disappear over time or will it simply become part of the “internet dictionary”? Only time will tell.