Fahlman entered the discussion with his now-famous post: “I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: :-) Read it sideways.” He added that serious messages could use :-(, noting, “Maybe we should mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends.”

From there, the smiley could spread across the emerging global computer network, and no one would ever misunderstand a joke online again. :-)

Is that last post of the article meant as a joke or not? I do not understand.

It’s interesting how quickly they evolved in the last ~20 years.

From :-) to :) to 🙂

:-)

I get it.

I prefer using emojis that show a range of variations of sarcasm over the very inelegant "/s," myself.

8===D (It doesn't even have to be read sideways)

I wouldn't say invention of the emoticon since it already existed since typewriter days in the same exact form and in print and writing for at least hundreds of years. Maybe the first recorded attempt to create a specific purpose for it on a computer system. But that seems pretty flimsy as an "invention". But given the state of the patent system, just about everything I'm technology is an invention these days despite how long it has existed or how obvious it was.

“After all, when using text-based online communication, we lack the body language or tone-of-voice cues that convey this information when we talk in person or on the phone.”

This quote is from 1982 and yet we all still fall into the same trap today