Quote Originally Posted by Florge View Post
Based from what I read here, there were no judgments made on any person. The judgments were done on the icons used. Yes, these are only icons, but, it is invented for a reason and the purpose of which is to replace the words. As internet savvy individuals,we all operate based on Netiquette (net etiquette). Right?... just like we are guided by the social etiquette norms in our real world, netiquette acts as our guide to the virtual world.

Going back to netiquette, being rude is still not an excuse here. The icons should be used properly so as not to be misinterpreted. A lot of you are claiming that you have been misinterpreted... but of course! this is internet. The communication process we're using is very limited as we only rely on the text and the icons so we better be careful on what we type here. If we (receiver of the message) feels appalled, insulted, or harassed by the sender's message, then it is the sender's responsibility to correct the miscommunication.

So, if the butt icons were seen as insulting to some receivers, then the user of the icon should be able to communicate clearly the intent of using the butt icons. This also applies to all the other icons. Since this is only texts and icons, all the more that we have to be careful on what icons to use as we have a lot of different readers with different mindsets. Use it as it is intended to be used. .. but that doesn't mean that you have the license to overdue the use of the icons.

Example:

Use of capital letters would mean shouting
Use of exclamation point would mean shouting
Use of red texts would mean anger
And so many netiquette rules ( I have learned this during the Mirc days.. hehehe)

So, for the new users of internet, I hope you will still be mindful of the netiquette rules so as not to create havoc in this virtual world that we all love. Some may tell me "*******s" to what I am saying here.. but, it would still be nice if we will act nicely and more decently, even in the world wide web... as behind these icons and texts, are human users... nothing to lose if we play nice, right?
You certainly got it right!....Very well said Florge!...We, the internet users should be aware of the words, icons and punctuation marks we read/see in the message. Netiquette rules should not be disregarded or ignored. It is like in our Communication subject, the punctuation marks does a great impact in a sentence. We don't hear how words are being said here and so by means of these icons and punctuation marks, we will know or feel how the message is being conveyed to us.
We all know the icons created in this forum has help us all so we could express more of what we wanted to say to the recipient. So use icons appropriately..