Happy 25th year, Smiley

The Smiley is 25 years old. The emoticon, which is today one of the most recognized symbols in digital communication, has been helping chat users
communicate for ages now.

Statistics said at least 85 percent of people using Yahoo! Messenger daily rely on emoticons to add color and character to their communication. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary, Yahoo! Messenger is now planning to create the next generation of smiley faces. The Smiley, which debuted way
back in 1982, has seen the addition of many other smileys in the following years.

Emoticons help people express themselves better and have saved digital conversations from being very impersonal. To add to the celebrations, Yahoo! Messenger is conducting an Emoticontest, inviting consumers to submit their favorite expressions that will compete for the next set of emoticons. Winners' contributions will be featured on Yahoo! Messenger's worldwide service, a report said.

Yahoo! has also conducted a survey of nearly 40,000 Yahoo! Messenger users to find out where and how emoticons play a role in everyday communication. It has found that nearly 82 percent of those who use Yahoo! Messenger daily, use emoticons in their IM conversations. As many as 83 percent of respondents of a survey say that happiness is the one most expressed emotion using emoticons, the other being flirting. The survey also revealed that users find it easier to convey feelings of love through emoticons than in person.

The survey went on to add that 57 percent of the users expressed a crush on someone using an emoticon. Among the Yahoo! IM users, aged 19 to 25 years are the most avid users of emoticons.