The Many Faces of Neoboard Smilies

This is probably one of the most used smilies on the neoboards. It is a simple happy face that is, quite obviously, used when you are happy. However, using this bright yellow smilie can be a tad annoying. In fact, I make a conscious effort not to use this one a lot. Much of the time, I make a smilie that is reversed, (: so that I do not have a bright yellow face interrupting my message post.

Similar to the happy face smilie, this smilie is extremely overused and I often use ): instead. Since it is bright blue, it tends to give the impression of being really whiny. Only use this smilie when the situation calls for being upset, such as when you score 100 points away from the Typing Terror avatar (yes, this happened to me).

This smilie is most often used to express frustration, not extreme anger. It is also frequently used sarcastically. I like this smilie a lot: it has a lot of character.

Use this smilie to say hey, I’m cool and I know it. It’s a really funny looking picture with those huge shades and tufts of hair. It is also very underused, so go ahead and use this smilie with some frequency (if you’re cool enough).

This is without a doubt one of my favorite smilies, partly because it is purple. Still, it makes a great smilie because it works so well in many situations. Use it to show how impressed you are by someone’s awesome pets or to express shock about who won that trillionftw auction. It’s a very versatile and great smilie to use.

The classic tongue-out smilie is great for telling jokes. I personally like it because I think it is cuter than the normal :) smilie.

Another classic, the wink is great to express sarcasm. Using smilies for sarcasm is really important on the boards. When you aren’t face-to-face with someone, they cannot read your facial expressions. Thus, they don’t know for sure if you are joking. This smilie helps you get the job done.

Aww, what a cute smilie! If someone does something nice for you, like lends you an important avatar item or wishes you good luck on spinning the Wheel of Extravagance, this is a great accompaniment to a thank you post. It really is sweet!

Only reserve this smilie for when you are extremely happy. I mean, it has buck-teeth, so it’s adorable. That being said, using it all the time gets really annoying.

Oh look at me, I am an innocent angel that can do no wrong! I don’t see this one used often, but it can be cute in some situations.

This smilie is most often used to get attention on the neoboards because it moves. For this reason, I tend to stay away from it.

I really only see this smilie to gain attention or to point out sarcasm. Also, if you put a carrot smilie right next to it, it looks as though the coughing smilie is eating the carrot; that’s pretty entertaining I guess.

If you are absolutely beyond angry, you can use this one. Be careful, though; it looks as though you might explode.

This is a slightly toned down version of the angry smilie. It moves, though, so that’s kind of cool.

I love this smilie and no one ever uses it. I mean look at it, it’s so happy! Do me a favor, and make this smilie popular. It can often be used in place of a winking smilie.

If you or someone else does something quite stupid, make use of this hilarious smilie. Just be sure to be nice with it. You don’t want to use it to offend someone that you’ve just met or don’t know very well.

I personally find this smilie quite annoying and never use it. However, sometimes, things happen that are really, really terrible. Not everyone on neopets is nice and looks out for each other. So only use this for the really horrible times.

There are many moments on the neoboards that are truly hilarious. It’s one of the best parts of being on the boards. I try to only use this smilie for something REALLY hilarious, though; using it too much dilutes its power. Reserve it for the times when you really do laugh out loud. Other times, I use XD instead.

This smilie is underused as well. If you are answering someone’s question with your own opinion, but you aren’t 100% sure, this is a great way to show it.

This smilie is obnoxiously big and irritating. I’ve only seen it used to get attention, and I absolutely never use it because it bothers me a lot.

There you have it, folks! Now you know a little bit about the appropriate times to use each of these adorable smilies.

I have given general rules, but how often you use each smilie is really up to you. Everyone has their own personality, and some people end up using certain smilies as their go-to emoticons. Whatever your style, feel free to switch it up every once in a while and try a new smilie. They all really have a personality of their own.

Thanks for reading! If you have any comments or criticism, feel free to neomail me. (: