Would you accept a smiley face as punctuation?

1. 67

   ThompsonPenposted 12 years ago

   Would you accept a smiley face as punctuation?
   
   I catch myself all the time - instead of writing a period or an exclamation mark or something similar, I add a textual smiley face. I don't do it in my Hubs, of course, but generally, when writing to people, I do

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2. 73

   Audrey Bakerposted 12 years ago

   I don't think you're alone, I see it all the time. If it's just friendly banter then I don't see a problem. Definitely not okay in a thesis! I see a lot of sentences ending with "lol"as well.

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   1. 67

      ThompsonPenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yeah I am definitely trying to break that habit as well!

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3. 62

   Goody5posted 12 years ago

   In messages or comments I think they are great 

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4. 92

   innerspinposted 12 years ago

   I'd be rather confused. I'm not a texter and don't use smiley faces on anything. Okay, I'm a dinosaur. Did I just do that? There's a first time for everything.

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5. 77

   Jeff Berndtposted 12 years ago

   In informal communication (emails between friends, comments on message boards, tweets, etc), it's fine. Smiley away: they enhance clarity.
   
   In formal communication (a work-related email, a scholarly paper, a letter to the editor, a published article, etc), it's not okay. The smiley will make you seem less credible, less mature, and less professional. In formal writing, your words should make your meaning clear. If your meaning might be misinterpreted, do a re-write until it /is/ clear.
   
   Smileys are for your time off.

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6. 87

   annartposted 12 years ago

   Only in texts or emails; other usage is out as it's just for fun, not for serious writing. Traditional rules of grammar and presentation are essential if you want to put across a serious point or important information.  Smiley faces are definitely not acceptable in exams - I have seen some!

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7. 0

   ahorsebackposted 12 years ago

   Me too ! and you know what I caught that here !................:-}
   Oh and for U.......@-->>--

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8. 68

   Gina145posted 12 years ago

   Smileys can be useful for communication in internet forums if you want people to know that your comment shouldn't be taken too seriously.  Otherwise I don't use them very often.

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