These funny little icons are used to signify connotation or sentiment around a communication.
Emoticons, derived from “emotion” and “icon”, are a series of punctuation marks, letters, and numbers used to convey emotions in digital communication.
Originating in the early days of the internet, they became a way for users to express feelings in a medium that often lacked emotional nuance. The classic smiley face :-) and sad face :-( are prime examples.
As technology evolved, these simple symbols gave birth to emojis, colorful and detailed icons representing everything from faces to food.
Today, both emoticons and emojis are integral to our digital conversations, adding color, emotion, and personality to our online interactions.