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Posted By: jay behrens

There seems to have been a few posts recently that were made in jest but taken the wrong way by the intended targets. The thing that all these posts have in common is that the poster did not use a smiley face or anything else to indicate that it was meant as a joke.

The written format is not a good format for conveying tonal inflection, facial expression and other indicators that in normal conversation would clue people in that you are kidding. This is why emoticons (smiley faces, etc) were developed. This way, you can convey a sense of emotion without spelling it out.

I'd strongly suggest that anyone that wants to make a post that is meant as a joke or friendly jab at someone, they need to place a smiley face or something else at the end of the post so people know you are kidding.

I use them all the time and rarely has anyone ever confused a joking post of mine as a serious one. Usually, those that make the mistake aren't familair with how to use emoticons. If you are going to be a regular user of internet forums, learning about and how to use emoticons is an absolute must.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.