>>>
despise them. where do you fall?
>>
somewhere in between. you don't strike me as a colon half parentheses kind of guy. but the truth is we've all thrown a
smiley face
into an e-mail or a
text message
, but while well-meaning, is that smile really spreading joy? emoticons, the little sideways faces popping up in e-mails,
text messages
, twitter feeds and facebook walls. and we're not just talking about smiles, a few taps on your keyboard and you could be winking, perplexed, yelling, even skateboarding, and
homer simpson
, yup, there's an emotor confor that.
>>
doh!
>> reporter:
what's the deal with the faces?
>>
you want to add a real feeling to the post you put an emoticon at the end.
>>
if i'm worried the message is misconstrued, i put a
smiley face
like i'm so happy with you.
>>
i think the emoticons are a reaching back to find facial expressions and tones of voice that were missing from our all text all the
time life
that we're living now. it's sweet that way and kind of human.
>> reporter:
while emoticons enjoy their rise in fame they make some people less, and more.
>>
to be like a lack of imagination.
>>
oh, they're terrible. they're awful.
>>
i think it's the downfall of civilization. today emoticons, tomorrow chaos.
>> reporter:
they even have "curb your enthusiasms" fired up.
>>
what are they going to be in newspapers?
>>
you called it. shortly after this episode, the new york times ran this. so if emoticons are good enough for national
red lines
, does that mean they're okay to use at work?
>>
i would not recommend using them in a work context. if your boss has started the emoticon story, you may respond in kind, but don't send an emoticon to your boss unless she or he has sent you one first.
>>
we asked our "today" show offices.
>>
too cutesy, too 20-something.
>>
i like the
smiley face
.
>>
the only thing worse than emoticon is a winky.
>>
i like the one that winks.
>>
show me again.
>>
that face.
>> reporter:
for the fining word we decided to go
straight to the top
. i'm going to write an e-mail to the
big boss
,
jim bell
, our executive producer here at the "today" show. dear jim, omg, i kinda feel like i should take all the holidays off this year. you rock.
happy face
. p.s., i also just got braces and now have a slight lisp. so was my e-mail well-received? how disturbed were you by the way i wrote that e-mail?
>>
not good.
>>
not good in an office setting?
>>
not good. you can put a period at the end of good, no the an emoticon,
smiley face
, closed prearentheses. if you wanted to you could underline and boldface.
>> reporter:
what did we learn from all this? seems at the
end of the day
, perhaps the safest way to send someone a smile is face-to-face.
>>
you know i always have love for you so happy thanksgiving.
>>
is this xoxo?
>>
better way.
>>
happy face
,
happy face
.
>>
oh,
peter alexander
right there. clearly
jim bell
our boss is not a fan. here's the thing show, i find i'm doing it more and more. you write a sentence that's not a great sentence, maybe doing some, undoing good news not so great,
smiley face
.
>>
the devices make it easier and easier, now they have that little section.
>>
right to the end.
>>
scroll over and it pops one off.
jim bell
and his comments to you, normally he spam blocks all of your e-mails.
>>
we have to go through nine layers of security just to have him receive one of our e-mails. but for purposes of this he did. matt thank you.
>>
thank you.
