The grandfather of the modern emoticon was created using the qwerty keyboard symbols. An email message might be embellished with a wink, using the semicolon and right parentheses, as in ;), while a grumpy mood might be conveyed with the left parentheses and a colon, like this - :( - ending the sentence. These cute keyboard tricks caught on fast, opening the door to the advent of the Smiley Face graphic, the now worldwide universally understood, bright yellow circle with the signature digitized Smiley Face graphic. Although you'll still see plenty of qwerty keyboard faces in your text emails, the almost too cute Smiley Face has basically taken over the internet universe of personal communications.
Teens love the libraries of Smiley Face graphics available for use on message boards and chat rooms. Who knew there was a face for just about every emotion you wished to send across cyberspace? Adults were not to be left out of this fun and trendy emotional literacy, assembling their own libraries of every Smiley Face emoticon to be found. A simple email communication might be written in five minutes, while their Smiley library was perused for fifteen minutes for the perfect Smiley attachment for any message which required added emphasis, for the purpose of humor or insult.
Graphic artists jumped on the bandwagon, taking the Smiley Face concept a touch further, with the bright yellow face of Smiley morphing through every possible emotion. Soon, there were Smiley Face graphics on flagpoles, at the top of Seattle's space needle and in the White House briefing room. Now you could have the lovelorn Smiley, or Smiley as a scuba diver. How about Smiley the farmer, rock star, groupie or gangsta?
The Smiley Face graphic has become a cultural icon. He can be a doctor, a dentist, a minister or a politician. You name it, he's done it, been there, seen that movie. He's gone to the moon, shopped for groceries and is an avid movie buff. There's hardly an emotion this little emoticon has not experienced, at least in the digital world.
The future of the Smiley Face graphic is anyone's guess. He's stood the test of time, still as popular as he was in the beginning. The curious thing about this little feller is that he's beloved of all age groups. That says a lot about his durability.
One interesting development came in the form of his changing color. By the time he turned green with envy, there was no denying his identity. Red with embarrassment? Yes, we know it's Smiley.
I can't wait to see what happens next in the Smiley Face graphic evolution. He's a bit like a cyberspace rendition of Pooh Bear.
