Some would say that emoticons serve as a written word replacement for the body language that we all take for granted. I would say that emoticons serve as a crippling crutch for those who may have trouble expressing themselves with words. I have taken a solemn oath to never use an emoticon. Instead, every time I feel it necessary to emplace a pointer to my mood I rethink the sentence and try to determine whether it could be said in such a way that the pointer is unnecessary. Authors have managed to make their point clear without the use of emoticons for a very long time.