Some people find them annoying, teenagers tend to love them, and others find them cute but prefer them in small doses. I would probably fall into the last category. Emoticons have their place but can get old fast. My favorite was the "dancing banana" but even that one got a little overdone. These actually have a practical purpose on the Internet. These tend to compensate in written communication for the lack of body language and tone of voice. They can help ensure we are not taken the wrong way and can clear up confusion when using humor, sarcasm, irony, or expressing frustration. Below is a shirt I've had for years, not for any practical purpose but just for fun. For some people on the Autistic spectrum, emoticons can be of even greater assistance. These gadgets can be useful for anyone when online or texting for reasons I just mentioned, but for people with difficulty in communication it would be nice to have access to these in real life conversation. I'm sure for those using facilitated communication there is something to this effect that they can use. The thing is it is the non-verbal people who tend to use these devices as they can be expensive and cumbersome. Maybe in time there will be some technology where even verbal people can have some way of clarifying their emotions in real life- something more practical than a t-shirt. Lets say the next time we are given a generous gift which we genuinely appreciate and people don't seem to be buying our "Thank You." than we could press a button on something that can do our "screaming and jumping up and down with excitement" for us. Even then the other person would have to trust us enough to believe that we meant it. I'm not even saying that I myself would need something like that though there are a few occasions here and there where something like that would be nice. It would be even better if such a device had reactions appropriate for ones gender, age, lifestyle, subculture or perhaps even let the user "customize their own mannerisms".
