You may have noticed funny sequences of characters or small icons in various messages. These aren't line noise, but an attempt to convey the tone of the message along with the words. They are called smileys or emoticons.

When writing, it is not easy to convey an emotion in words so that all readers can understand exactly what you are trying to convey. When we are speaking our tone of voice and inflection conveys this, but these are not available when writing.

If your message is a bit ambiguous in its meaning, put a smiley face on it so others can see you weren't being abusive, etc.

In Pinkboard Graffiti Walls certain character sequences are converted automatically to icons these are:

:) or :-)		standard smiley
:( or :-(		frown
;) or ;-)		wink

Here is a long list of text smileys collected over the years.