Become a fan of h2g2
Every time you use a smiley, it means: "Either I am so illiterate that I am unable to communicate this particular aspect/element of my message using mere words, or I am merely too lazy to do so."
Every time you use three or more smileys, it means: "I really have nothing to say here at all, but I want to make some kind of noise, so I'm going to throw a bunch of little pictures at you that you've already seen many times before."
Every time you badger the h2g2 team for a new smiley, it means: "Please give me another brightly-coloured cudgel with which to bludgeon the subtle art of communication to death."
Every single time.
Please bear this in mind and converse responsibly. Thank you.
Every time you use three or more smileys, it means: "I really have nothing to say here at all, but I want to make some kind of noise, so I'm going to throw a bunch of little pictures at you that you've already seen many times before."
Every time you badger the h2g2 team for a new smiley, it means: "Please give me another brightly-coloured cudgel with which to bludgeon the subtle art of communication to death."
Every single time.
Please bear this in mind and converse responsibly. Thank you.