Smilies: Graphic vs Ascii
 

Silly question but still interesting. Which smilies do you prefer to use? Graphic (such as :), :D, :eagletear:) or Ascii ones ( =), =D, =X, etc)? And why actually do you use it?

I actually prefer ascii art since for some reason it has different atmosphere compared to graphic ones. If graphic smilies are "cool", the ascii is probabl considered "cute" (well not really, but maybe).

I tend to use the ascii ones, just because sometimes the graphical smilies are really lame (ie: default AIM smilies). Also, I tend to do anime-ascii emoticons, such as ^__^ and T_____T, which usually convey things better anyways.

However, if I like the smilies of the place that I'm typing, I'll be more than happy to use those, especially here and on DeviantART.

It depends on what I'm doing. On AIM, I'll usually use the graphics. On forums, I'll use the ascii version, but sometimes it automatically shows as a graphic.

I like ASCII smilies, but that's because I'm extremely old. I used to go out of my way to find smilies that wouldn't get translated into graphics, but because so many websites do it and so many more smilies are getting translated, I just gave up.

:.)

ASCII for me. There's just so much more variety, and they're much more appealing to me. I guess there's something about the colour of smilies that annoys me? (I do like some smilies though, so it's not as if I never use them :3:)

My favourite ASCII's are probably (my overused) =/, =X and >=[

Edit: Maybe I should've chosen "Both". Ah well.

I do both. But like Spike said, they automatically translate into the graphics. I like using >.<, >_>, <_< and once in a while-- >: ) (although I haven't used that one for a LONG time)

The only graphical smiley i've ever liked was :cool:. I just wish I could put that in all kinds of places, but I just can't.

Add: I also just realized we definitely need a better version of :cool:, this one kind of stinks.

Depends on what I'm doing. If I'm on a forum then I use the graphic smilies that are provided, same with IM, even though the smilies on IM are pretty crappy. If I'm using them in-game, then I use Ascii smilies. Its easier and quicker do do them this way rather than hunt for the graphic ones.

I love ASCII smilies over graphic ones unless I'm using them in an MSN convo since you can make just about any picture that you want an emoticon. Reason being that I sort of find graphical smilies to not be an accurate representation of what I want to convey, and they're usually gimmicky anyways.
*ahem*:emo:

:p Looks nothing like the =P I picture with the barely noticeable tongue in :p
There's also no smiley for my now-favourite pouty face: ">=("

I also want to vary the eyes from time to time between ":" as in :D, "=" as in =X, and rotated smileys like ">_<", ";_;", and "o_O" I go for cute over flash because I actually want to express a hint of emotion rather than make others laugh at the smileys.

I hardly ever use smilies, but when I do they're usually Ascii. On most forums they're automatically converted to graphics though. Miranda doesn't do graphical smilies, so my smilies are all Ascii whenever I happen to use one while IM-ing.

I usually only use :( anyway.

Ascii all the way :}}}

I must be illiterate when it comes to Japanese ascii smilies whatchamajigs, because I have no idea what that one's about...

It's crying. T_T


I like ascii ones most of the time, but some of the graphic ones on here are fun to use. :tpg:

It's like...exasperated crying? A lot of crying?
Oh -- how convenient. A guide to animemoticons.

I like using Ascii but I also like using animated graphic smilies (if available).

I tend to like ascii more since most forums/programs have really ugly graphic smiles. When they have cute or silly ones I like to use them sometimes instead.

Ascii all the way. I've never liked the graphical smilies, finding them crummy looking and not as cute/nice. The only smilies I'd actually use would be based on cute ferrets.

:3 < ferret smile

I get pissed off when I find my :3 / 8) / =D etc are translated, especially when the image sucks. I normally throw in an extra in there to avoid it, by using something such as ='D. Why replace "<3" with a smiley?

I avoid as many of MSN Messenger's smileys as I can, instead doing :0 over :O, =D over :D and so on. :^) is neat though.

Basically, I like image smileys when they're not simply showing what the ASCII would do anyway. So TPG is obviously fine; it's unique and has no ascii equivalent.

Though like BlueMikey said, some places (ahem, DeviantArt) seem to have absolutely everything covered, which essentially actually is enough to keep me from posting there.

I don't really like the majority of graphical smilies. As Roph said, the more unique ones which aren't simply an attempt to reproduce the essence of an ASCII smilie are sometimes good. Some of the ones GFF has are really creative.

It also depends on the images that are being used. I've seen both good and bad graphical smilies. Some of them are really expressive, but they just aren't in the majority. The AIM smilies are some of the worst I've seen.

When it comes to ASCII smilies, I prefer the horizontal style smilies to the older vertical style. I don't really know why. I never liked the basic :) smiling face to begin with, although it was sometimes necessary on Usenet. You can't always read for tone, of course. Faces like ^_^ on the other hand seem a lot more expressively happy to me, despite looking less like a smile.

I definitely prefer the ASCII smilies just because it seems a little more old school-ish. I dunno. But if it automatically gets converted into a graphical one, I don't really care. I do like :3: and :33: though.

On the other hand, nothing really compares to :orange:. =p

Oh, I'm for both. Whatever you like to do for expression is awesome by me. :argh: http://www.acerbandit.net/emoticons/love.gif http://www.acerbandit.net/emoticons/59.gif http://www.acerbandit.net/emoticons/...ovalbounce.gif =)))

Ascii I guess. It's just quicker for me, and as for emails I don't think any mainstream email programs (like outlook, gmail, yahoo, etc.) have graphical smilies?