Inappropriate Emoticons

[Dave the Canuck]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

Well, that's one of the things we're here for, Dave. And it's impossible for us to read every single word of every post or to gauge the intent behind every use of an emoticon, so we rely a great deal on members using the Report Post icon to bring potential problems to our attention.

Carry on . . .

TaoJones

Sorry Tao. Didn't mean to diminish the role.
BTW, I suspect that thisis the one that you really wanted to use.

[Bash]

GordMay's point that the emoticons can be used to insult is well taken. For some members the emoticons have become a mechanism to act out passive-aggressive behavior. This is typical in communities, especially families, where the honest expression of feelings is forbidden. For example, children in a family of alcoholic parents will often learn passive-aggressive behaviors, such as malicious compliance, in order to mask vindictive intent.

The careful observer will certainly see the same thing happening here on the forum. The emoticon becomes an acceptable way to gesture with the middle finger while technically not violating the be-nice rule. The rule is being complied with, and yet the compliance is malicious in terms of its intent. Happily, we only have a few members who misuse the emoticons this way. Sadly, one of those members has one of our highest posting-per-day rates.

I'm not certain that banning potentially insulting emoticons will solve the problem of malicious compliance with the be-nice rule. In place of the emoticons we'll end up with such abbreviations as LMFAO, or FFS, which often are employed at the service of the same sort of malicious intent. Honestly, I'd rather see the less articulate among us resort to the head-banger emoticon than mask their cursing via abbreviations.

[boatman61]

Emoticons like words can be interperted two ways... positive or negative... if one takes them seriously...
Guess its all down to the mental outlook/approach one views life....
Personally there's not one Emoticon here I find offensive... and lets face it... if someones not got the nerve to put something they feel/want to say into words... in a post or a pm.... are they really worth listening to...
Dunno about other folks but I took up biking/sailing to get away from folks telling me what I can and cannot do... and to be honest... if I go out of line in your opinion MOD's... then follow your normal routine and PM me... again

You guys poll on all sortsa other things... lets put this to a multiple choice vote.. sure our clever MOD's can tag one onto here...

[bljones]

If emoticons get under your skin... maybe the problem isn't the emoticon.

[perchance]

Aren't emoticons part and parcel of the whole freedom speech thing?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by perchance

Aren't emoticons part and parcel of the whole freedom speech thing?

Excerpted from our Forum RULES:
Here ➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ork&page=rules

“... Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully ...
... We take the "be nice" rule VERY seriously! We do not tolerate ANY rudeness ...
... About the First Amendment, censorship and your "right to free speech":
You do indeed have an absolute right to free speech. However this forum is privately owned and requires members to abide by our rules and by the decisions of our staff. If you cannot accept these guidelines we encourage you to contact one of the many good web hosting companies out there to exercise that right to your heart's content ...”

[Irie]

Emoticon users usually get a laugh out of me because they usually emphasize a point with humor.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I love everyone on CF.com.

And I include the odd nit-pickers. and those humourlessly challenged.

Yeah, I love everyone. and I don't need emoticons to say that. me being in touch with my inner play nice child and everything.

[Weyalan]

I'm actually with Gord on this one. Their removal would actually force people to actually type the emotion that they are trying to display with an emoticon, and then they would have to take responsibility for what they type rather than being able to shrug it off, with a "it's just an emoticon... sheesh" type response.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Yeah, I love everyone. and I don't need emoticons to say that. me being in touch with my inner play nice child and everything.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I think that all of the smart-ass & insulting emoticons* should be removed from the forum. They all convey ideas & attitudes that we wouldn’t permit if overtly expressed in words.

Whoa! I thought you were kidding, but reading your other responses I have come to the realization you are serious.

What is the emoticon for "lighten up already"?

Although there are some serious discussion on this board, fellowship is a huge part of it also, and humor is part of good fellowship.

Let 'em stay

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I love everyone on CF.com.

And I include the odd nit-pickers. and those humourlessly challenged.

Yeah, I love everyone. and I don't need emoticons to say that. me being in touch with my inner play nice child and everything.

What it lacked in emoticons it made for with proper spelling of a word that may not exist.

[foggysail]

My take is that it comes down to whose "goat is being gored!" I had posts edited for PC while others in the same thread took it upon themselves to express their selfrighteous indignation at my expense with zero interferences from moderators.

There is enough PC surrounding us every day without this site becoming an advocate to implement more. Just my humble thoughts!

Foggy

[bljones]

If we're going to ditch offensive emoticons, then I think we should ditch offensive punctuation. One exclamation point, question mark or combination of either is more than sufficient to make one's point, thank you. And do not even get me started on quotation marks and the unbiquitous interchangeability with apostrophes, and the confusion when someone types ' instead of ". Maybe there really is someone out there looking for a 60 inch liveaboard, but I doubt it.

Oh, and capital letters should be banned. Yelling is not nice and hurts my feelings.

Let's ban all modern abbreviations and textspeak as well. We wouldn't want those rascally young whippersnappers with them newfangled keyboardy phones to discover this place.

Not one smiley was used in the entire above post. Some may read this and feel it was a lighthearted poke at the issue. Others will feel that it is positively dripping with sarcasm.

That is why emoticons have value.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by avb3

What is the emoticon for "lighten up already"?