An emoticon is a sequence of keyboard characters used to accentuate an emotion . It is placed after the last punctuation mark in a sentence, and is usually read sideways and counterclockwise. Among the best known are the smile :-), the wink ;-), the one that expresses amazement: -or, sarcasm: – [or sadness :-(. They are also used, for example, to send kisses: – * .
Its invention is attributed to Scott Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University (USA), who was the first to use one of these symbols in 1982, three decades ago, to represent a smiling face. As he himself explains on his website, the idea arose in response to the problems of interpreting the messages that were exchanged on the electronic boards or panels used by teachers and students to discuss certain topics online . "We thought that it would be a good idea to make explicit which messages should not be taken seriously; after all, when we use text-based online communication we do not have the additional data provided by body language or tone of voice, which in a conversation inform of the intent or tone of the message, "explains Fahlman. "Then it occurred to me that the sequence of characters 🙂 could be an elegant solution that, in addition, all computers of that time, based on ASCII code, could support", he clarifies.
