In conjunction with acronyms, emoticons are shorthand tools for symbolizing emotion in a virtual world. This article about emoticons attempts to shed a bit of light on the use of these symbols. The author uses a sort of wait-and-see tone with regard to whether or not emoticons are here to say or just a passing fad like the ‘irony mark’. Emoticons have evolved to become more than just the symbols we type so that most programs will recognize what you’re trying to convey and insert an actual ☺ or frowny face (system won’t recognize that symbol). Many of these programs even have animation built into the emoticon so that the mouths turn either direction or your smiley sheds tears. While I don’t see any of these becoming acceptable forms of formal communication it is hard to picture them fading from use entirely. Computer programmers have somewhat standardized a modern list of symbol shortcuts starting with ‘ALT+1’ to signify the smiley. A detailed list can be found here.