5: Emoticons

Hieroglyphics, or writing that uses symbols rather than letters or words, have been used for thousands of years. Since the introduction of the Gutenberg press in the middle of the fifteenth century, written communication in Western culture has been dominated by textual or alphabetic forms. Recently, the introduction of the computer has renewed interest in and increased the use of hieroglyphic and communication symbols in writing. An example of this resurgence is emoticons.

Lara Rezabeck and John Cochenour (1995) define emoticons as “visual cues formed from ordinary typographical symbols that when read sideways represent feelings or emotions” (p. 1). Graphic emoticons, or small images that replace text are often used in conjunction with text messaging, instant messenger programs, and in Internet forums (Emoticons, 2006). Graphic emoticons return writing to the visual modalities found in early hieroglyphic forms. As such, they represent a significant shift in the type of literacy used in our culture.