Faces on the Internet

            One of the problems with texting and chatting with friends online is that you can’t express your current facial emotions. Facial emotions aid in communicating feelings and your state-of-mind in conversations and dialogues. Now we can simply use phrases like “*smile*, or *frown* to remedy this problem but the Web has something else in mind… Introducing Smiley Faces! With them, we can actually see a textual-graphical representation of the emotions of our faces! Such a neat invention isn’t it? Below is a list of every smiley face I know (some are uncommon and you might never see it before!) and its meanings:

Icon	Meaning
:)   :D	Standard smile
:-)  :-D	Smile with a nose
:(   :-(	Sad face, (with a nose)
>:-)	Evil grin
^_^	Happy face
:P	Sticking tongue out
XD	Eyes-closed laugh
8-)	Sunglasses
:-X	Sealed mouth
:-#	With Braces
:_(   :’(	Crying
;-)	Winking smile
O:-)	Angel face
:-@	Screaming
%-(     O.o	Confused
:----)	Long nose (Liar!)
:-($)	Put money where mouth is
:@)	Pig smile
@>--;-- @-}--- ())>---	Rose
=^.^=	Cat face
<(-_-)>	Robot face
-_-	Annoyed/ What the Hell face
:*	Kissing face
C=:-)	Chef hat
:O	Ooooooh face/ Uh-oh face
<:-)	Uni-brow
d[-_-]b	Head-phones
:-Q	Smoking
-@-@-	Eyeglasses
\VVV/	King
\%%%/	Queen
$_$	Greedy face
@_@	Rolling your eyes
<3   ♥	Heart
(\_/) (o.o) (___)0	Bunny
~( 8^(I)	Homer Simpson
(^.^) /\  (^.^)	High-five!
(>'-')> <('-'<) ^(' - ')^	Kirby dance

All these great graphics are reminding me of the notion of virtual reality Barlow mentioned in his book Blogging America. Virtual realities are modeled to look like the real world (the stimulated environment, the humanoid avatars, some forms of Physics applied) while at the same time, aggressively distinct from real life (Flying abilities, no need to use the bathroom, materials appearing from thin air). These smiley faces, similar to virtual realities, are modeled to represent a human face (e.g. colons to represent eyes, the letter ‘D’ to represent an open mouth) while at the same time, it’s nothing like a human face (e.g. no hair, proportions are out of place...).

Living life on Facebook

Jim woke up on a lazy Saturday morning and gazed over his bedroom. He saw a large photo hanging next to the window frame. On the photo were roughly twenty-five post-it notes with nothing but the word “like” occupying the entire piece of paper. On the back of the post-it notes were the names of Jim’s friend who have submitted it. The post-it notes were arranged in an alphabetically order across the photo. The photo itself was simply a shot of Jim dressed up as “the money you could be saving with Geico” for Halloween (see picture below for clarification.) But due to the numerous post-it notes, only a quarter of Jim’s face was visible.

The Money You Could be Saving with Geico (Jim's Halloween costume.)

Jim then preceded to his regular morning routines. Upon completion, Jim headed out the door. As he descended the doorsteps, a small piece of wrapped paper fell from the sky and onto Jim’s hand. Jim immediately unfolded the paper. There was only one line of text and it reads “Sam Johnson commented on your wall post.” Moment after reading, four more wrapped paper emerged from thin air and fell on Jim. Unfortunately, both of Jim’s hands were occupied from holding the first paper, so the newly appeared papers fell by Jim’s feet. As Jim reached down to grab them, Jim suddenly felt a light force was exerted on his back. He used his right hand to feel for any changes to his back. Unexpectedly, Jim’s hand was touching a photo that was “tagged” on him. Jim took the photo and found out that it was a picture of his friend and he dressed in his Geico costume. Seconds later, Jim saw that his friend Gabriel crossed the street and stood by Jim’s side. Gabriel lifted his right index finger, and, with a small amount of vigor, trusted the finger into Jim’s arm while simultaneously yelling out “POOOKE!” Jim was not sure how to respond to Gabriel’s action and chose to ignore it. Jim’s Farmville friend Mike then made an appearance with a pink cow three times his size beside him. It appeared Mike has found a wandering cow in his farm and he wanted Jim to take care of it. In the midst of this chaos, Jim’s classmate Sophia came up to Jim and said: “Hi, I want to be your friend. Do you accept, ignore, or decline?” Having freaked out, Jim turned around and tried to retreat back to his house only to discover that his other friend Gary was using a can of spray can to write some sort of message on his wall. Through the windows, Jim discovered that his boss is looking through his photo albums. Photos of Jim’s partying nights. Jim was now scared. He was frightened on what would occur next. He yelled and screamed as loud as he can to the sky: “What in the world is happening!!!” As if the God has answered his prayer, all of his surrounding turned black. His friends, the pink cow, the pieces of paper, and even Jim’s wall and house disappeared. At last Jim was at point blank. Nothing but darkness surrounded him. Finally, ‘BLEEP’, Jim disappeared as well as the computer shuts down.

You have just lived a moment of Jim’s life on Facebook. You can say Jim was one of those people who, as Rosenberg described, “put[s] everything out there.” Before Jim was sucked into that unusual world, he was posting inappropriate photos on his Facebook profile. This is why he became scared after finding out his boss has been peeking into his pictures.

Ways to laugh

            Laughing is such an enjoyable activity. I mean why else would villains in superhero movies burst out laughing when their doom is near? To enjoy their last moment of course! OK I was joking about that. Genuinely laughing is the most sincere form of amusement.  Laughing is such a great activity that it has gained a large variety on the internet! Let me cite all the variants I can think of:

• lol: stands for Laugh out Loud. Everyone knows about this, let's carry on.
• lololololololol: For added emphasis on lol. This does not literally mean laugh out loud out loud out loud … but rather, it means several lol's in a row. This is also a great way to laugh in real life! Using lololololol (I pronounced it loh-loh-loh-loh-loh) to laugh will surely result in your friends laughing with you! And no, I don't mean laughing at you.
• lulz: A variant to lol
• lolwut: The fusion of lol and what. Are typically used in funny, confused situations
• trolololol: The combination of trolling and lolling. Indicates a prank has been made.
• lmao: Stands for Laugh My Ass Off. It doesn't actually mean your ass is detached from your body as a result of laughing for those who are wondering. It just means you laugh off of your seat.
• rofl: Roll on Floor Laughing, pretty self-explanatory
• roflmao: Combination of rofl and lmao, for added emphasis.
• roflcopter: The union of rofl and helicopter. Was rumored to originate from a forum moderator on Warcraft III.

•  lollerskate: The union of roller-skate and lol. Internet users are so imaginative aren't they?

            Laughing is such a great way to bond with both your offline and online friends. Similar to what Barlow stated on her book Blogging America, writers need the presence of a supporting audience to help them write better. You become that supporting audience if you send a simple 'lol' when one of your friends tells a joke. Showing your friends that you support them will surely aid in sustaining friendships.