Smileys are used frequently to add emotion to the text we write today. Making a colon with a capital D : D makes a big smile to emphasis how we feel about the subject we are expressing. Semicolons are used for a wink ; and left parentheses for a frown ( or right parentheses for a smile ).

The difference between the two is that smileys use purely text characters while the second group are pictures of little yellow faces which express the same emotions of the text smiles but without the usage of text based characters. Such little pictures can be had from smileyCentral.

Thanks to the use of text messaging on cell phones, instant messaging (IM) and message boards the use of smileys and emoticons for informal written communications has soared.

It is rare to find a youth that is not well versed in the meaning and use of smileys and emoticons on the internet and in messaging today. The youth were the first to use them and spread their popularity.

While the early use of smileys expressed only happiness and sadness, the variety of symbols has increased to now be able to show disbelief, anger, surprise and playfulness as well.

Emoticons are used more by females than males which may be attributed to females being more adept at using them and possibly to females being more in tune with the nuances of expressing emotions in text.

Those who criticize the use of emoticons as being detrimental to the depth of human communication do not address the benefits of using them for quicker messages with more intimate text messages.

The future of these symbols seems to have plateaued. All expressions possible using text characters seem to have been used up. Emoticons can display a wider range of emotions since they are not limited. The future of more nuanced symbols lies within message forums since their text messages are often longer and more detailed, thus requiring a wider range of symbols.