Smiley's people (essay)

Smiley's people (essay)

"Smiley's people" is an essay by Neal Stephenson that appeared in "The New Republic" on September 13, 1993, on the subject of emoticons or "smileys". The title of the article is alludes to the John le Carré novel, "Smiley's People". The article contends that the popular use of emoticons lowers the quality of the written word in the context of online communication. While he has since recanted this view, there remain many others who agree with his original assessment citing the general lack of written sophistication in modern public online communication (a theme Stephenson revisited in his 2008 novel "Anathem").

External links

* [http://tafkac.org/afu/smileys/smileys_the_new_republic.html First appearance of the article on the internet (archived at the AFU and Urban Legends Archive)]
* [http://www.nealstephenson.com/content/author_smileys.htm Smileys: Fahlman 1, Stephenson 0] - Why Neal Stephenson no longer agrees with that article.


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