Expressing Emotion on Forums

[Michael Chui]

Originally Posted by Richful

Please don't take the following as attacks but sincere questions, not sure how to create tone in posting yet

One of the largest problems about a purely written form of communication, like these forums, is that expressing an emotion is extremely difficult. We get by, of course, but I thought it'd be a good idea to share with each other some ideas on how to suggest what would normally be given towards body language, facial expression, punctuated with a snort or a laugh, aided by gesticulation, and so on.

To start it off, I think one of the simplest ways is to use a smiley. A positive smiley will often lighten the gravity of a post, since it's a facial expression. And if you can't use a smiley, it's possible to describe it like so: *with an innocent look on his face*. I prefer asterisks.

[benza]

Originally Posted by Michael Chui

One of the largest problems about a purely written form of communication, like these forums, is that expressing an emotion is extremely difficult. We get by, of course, but I thought it'd be a good idea to share with each other some ideas on how to suggest what would normally be given towards body language, facial expression, punctuated with a snort or a laugh, aided by gesticulation, and so on.

To start it off, I think one of the simplest ways is to use a smiley. A positive smiley will often lighten the gravity of a post, since it's a facial expression. And if you can't use a smiley, it's possible to describe it like so: *with an innocent look on his face*. I prefer asterisks.

I agree. But there aren't enough smiley on this forum. Please add more.

[King Of All Cosmos]

IF YOU TYPE ALL IN CAPS, PEOPLE WILL TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY!!!!!!11



Silliness aside, there are general problems in pure-text communication. Sarcasm can be hard to detect unless it is made obvious, and blatantly so. People who read posts won't necessarily be in the same mindset as the poster, leaving much room for miscommunication and misunderstanding. There's also the users who aren't native english speakers, furthering possible confusion (even so, it can be hard to tell with some).

I think that a general set of rules and guidelines should be made to communicate efficiently through online forums. I'm also aware that someone has probably already thought of this and made said rules and guidelines.

All in all, I think that online communication demands slightly more imaginative empathy on the side of the readers, and more consideration on the side of the writers. With that, I'll admit that I tend to ramble about thoughts and ideas a lot - is this making sense to anyone?

[Keith]

I quite like pseudo-tags (emoto-tags?).

eg.

<playfully bemused>I find you quite odd</playfully bemused>

<sarcasm>Wow, that was a really insightful post!</sarcasm>

(that last one's probably a bit negative for this forum, though ).

[birger]

Originally Posted by benza

I agree. But there aren't enough smiley on this forum. Please add more.

I prefer the old-fashioned text-only smileys. In that way you are also not limited to the graphics present in the forums! :D

I agree that smileys can be a good way to set a tone, but I often find it cluttering posts and way overused in many forums. Sometimes it feels like people expect you to put a smiley in the end of every other sentence or else they will question you "is something wrong?"

This is even more true when it comes to IM...

PS: I liked the "Disable smilies in text" feature, I think it should be on by default.

[Lotus]

birger,
I noticed you didn't add any smilies to your post. Is something wrong?

::wicked:: I prefer the old-fashioned "emote" tags that went on muds, moos, and talkers; that is, the colon or double colon marks.

HTML "tags" are fun too, but you have to remember to close your tags, or your whole post might be taken as <emotive>.

Colour is a great way to add emotion. I'm still trying to convince the world to take on a standard "tone" coloring system:

Blue: mellow
Red: angry
Pink: loving, flirting
Yellow: humor (::grumble:: the yellow and the yellowish colours are hard to see in this forum)
Orange: sarcasm

Or some such. That's a really Westernized colour schemata; might be misinterpreted in other parts of the world.

[Adam Sargant]

an excellent topic, and one that cannot resurface often enough

Wired News: The Secret Cause of Flame Wars

On a couple of forums that I run I am often in the position of having to tell people that what they think they *hear* as the way something is said is entirely in their heads... one can observe conflict arising out of nowhere other than people's own auditory hallucination. That, combined with the attitude that I am communicating with a stream of elctrons (how often have you seen the debate "Well, we don't know who you are, you may be a stream of electrons for all I know" or somesuch equivalent?) can result in seriously dehumanised communication. I also find that personally I write as if I am having a conversation, whcih fails to take into account the time lag and consequent delay in being able to correct any missapprehension.

Personally, I like pseudo tags</high horse> and old fashioned emoticons (not the graphic ones) :-p, but ultimately, a little consideration for the real feelings of others works a whole lot better, combined with the understanding that we are communicating in an emotionally impoverishing medium.

Love and light

Adam

[elainevdw]

Exclamation points! But just one. As the Chicago Manual of Style says, multiple end punctuations (such as "What is that thing?!") are only allowable in situations where the author is being physically assaulted while writing.

[RandomJohn]

Does the double punctuation result from the assault, or the assault result from the punctuation?! (Stop that!!! I mean it!!! Ow!1!!1)

[Lotus]

Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a diseased mind.
- Terry Pratchett

[Jim Westergren]

Hmm ... interesting topic.

I have been writing on forums for years and believe it or not I find it easier to express myself in written form than verbally.

I like to use smileys when fittting and find the ones on vBulletin to be good for this. I actually find it easy to express my emotions with the written word.

[Minishark]

Originally Posted by Jim Westergren

Hmm ... interesting topic.

I have been writing on forums for years and believe it or not I find it easier to express myself in written form than verbally.

I like to use smileys when fittting and find the ones on vBulletin to be good for this. I actually find it easy to express my emotions with the written word.

The problem isn't that you think you are able to express yourself better in writing. A lot of people, myself included, probably agree with you also. The problem is that when other people can't see your facial expressions, or hear your tone of voice, it's very easy for what you're writing to be misinterpreted by other people.

[Michael Chui]

Originally Posted by Jim Westergren

Hmm ... interesting topic.

I have been writing on forums for years and believe it or not I find it easier to express myself in written form than verbally.

I like to use smileys when fittting and find the ones on vBulletin to be good for this. I actually find it easy to express my emotions with the written word.

It depends on the emotion. I make it a point to maintain a calmness within myself all the time, so I rarely need to worry about expressing personal emotion except when trying to express humor. And I discipline myself to communicate using Aristotle's guidelines on rhetoric.

Of course, in person, I have to liven up a little. But I haven't really built body language into my face-to-face conversations until recently, which has caused no end to interestingness...

[Milo Riano]

But I would assume that smileys tend to become mechanical and doesn't show emotions. Hmmm, or I could be wrong.

[Michael Chui]

Originally Posted by Milo Riano

But I would assume that smileys tend to become mechanical and doesn't show emotions. Hmmm, or I could be wrong.

Use rarely, but decisively.