Culture Determines Which Emoticon You Use

Ant writes "A LiveScience story discusses the cultural differences in interpreting facial expressions. The article notes that where you come from plays a large role in what part of the human face you use to determine another person's mood. That also includes communicating online with the usages of smiley faces. 'For instance, in Japan, people tend to look to the eyes for emotional cues, whereas Americans tend to look to the mouth, says researcher Masaki Yuki, a behavioral scientist at Hokkaido University in Japan ... In Japan, emoticons tend to emphasize the eyes, such as the happy face (^_^) and the sad face (;_;). "After seeing the difference between American and Japanese emoticons, it dawned on me that the faces looked exactly like typical American and Japanese smiles," he said.'"

Comments

No emoticons?

[eln]

So what culture am I a part of if I want to strangle someone every time they use any kind of emoticon at all?

Re:No emoticons?

[stsp]

So what culture am I a part of if I want to strangle someone every time they use any kind of emoticon at all?

Vogon.

Re:No emoticons?

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess you're just old >:->
But what I don't understand is why do you want to strangle people who use emoticon ? O_o
I mean... it's just a way to communicate more efficiently ! :)
Oh, boy... I'm so dead :(

Re:No emoticons?

[nevernamed]

Of course it would be easy to understand why those anime cartoons have such huge eyes after reading this!

Re:No emoticons?

[mrchaotica]

Text is very easy to mis-read, especially if it contains sarcasm or jokes.

<sarcasm>This sounds like a job for XML!</sarcasm>

Re:No emoticons?

[illegalcortex]

So what culture am I a part of if I want to strangle someone every time they use any kind of emoticon at all?

Asperger's.

Re:No emoticons?

[Anonymous Coward]

It looks like you're trying to type an XML Document. Did you mean to write:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<sarcasm xmlns="http://www.martinpayne.co.uk/humour/">
<![CDATA[This sounds like a job for XML!]]>
</sarcasm>

Re:That's interesting.

[Mylakovich]

Interesting indeed! Facinating, even! What a unique and special person you are.

The most enigmatic one

[wumpus188]

(.)(.)

I am a regular ./ reader and this one always puzzled me.

Re:The most enigmatic one

[sakdoctor]

/-{ }-\

What does this one say about culture?

Re:The most enigmatic one

[Red Pointy Tail]

(.)(.)

I am a regular ./ reader and this one always puzzled me

Everyone stand clear! Don't answer that one!

It's a boobie-trapped question!

Re:The one I hate

[linvir]

They really ought to be using more than two characters, to avoid ambiguity. Like this:
OLOLOLOLLOLOL ^^^^^^^^

Oh no, it's....

[Dogtanian]

The goatse emoticon:

(=O=)

or what about

=(3OE)=

Re:Oh no, it's....

[Just Some Guy]

The goatse emoticon:

(=O=)

I will never see a TIE fighter the same way again, you bastard.

Re:Russian smileys ))))

[Dogtanian]

Finally an appropriate thread to ask this in. Could someone please explain why Russian smileys have no eyes, and typically multiple chins? Because many people in Eastern Europe really look like that... the radiation from Chernobyl had a devastating effect on the populations there.

Re:Ve haff vays of making you smile.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a german smiley actually: Ü

Cultural differences on Eroticon six

[SoVeryTired]

As far as I know, this one is unique to Eroticon Six...

(.)(.)(.)

Re:The mouth lies

[Madcapjack]

its especially easy to fake smiles on /.

: )