Long live smileys!!!

It would be comforting to think that the smiley will be eradicated from online culture, just as the genuine smiley face has, for the most part, been vacuumed from popular culture. I am not optimistic, though. Most people, I suspect, go on the Net because it's the only ticket to cyberspace.   Smiley's people

I doubt that the smiley will ever die out. As today's culture becomes more and more technology and internet reliant, children are learning how to use cell phones and computers before they can correctly ride a two-wheeled bicycle. Although the genuine smiley has partially disappeared from our sight (I only discovered how to make a smiley without clicking on the pre-made ones, about two years ago), I doubt they will disappear completely. For one, not all cell phones offer pre-designed emoticons. Thus, if a person wants to send his friend a smiley, he'll have to do it from scratch. In order to do that, he would need to know what they look like (  :-)   in case you've forgotten!) 

Anyway, I understand where Stephenson is coming from when he says that emoticons are corrupting today's population. Just look at how many students actually spell "you" as "u" and use "lol" in their term papers. I'll admit that sometimes, using text shortcuts and smileys can get out of hand, but as long as people remember that there is an appropriate time for all uses of language, the world can continue to live as it did prior to the birth of the smiley.