Found this news story today. Great history about emoticons. Highlights for me was:
4. Western vs. Eastern Emoticons
Like hip hop, emoticons have geographical styles; there are western emoticons and eastern emoticons. Western ones are read sideways (from left to right) whereas eastern style emoticons are read upright. It's easier to explain with examples:
Western-style | Eastern-style | |
| smile/happy | :) | (^_^) |
| frown/sad | :( | (T_T) crying face |
| wink | ;) | (^_~) |
| shocked | :0 | (o_O) |
10. Emoticonman
If emoticons are expressions of emotions put in simple text format, what is the reverse process? New Jersey-based multimedia artist Dan Wade takes emoticons and "emote" them out ...
This one to the left is his impression of the wink emoticon. You can see a whole lot more at his website: Link
