Facebook emoticons

Since Facebook chat was introduced into the world’s biggest social network over one year ago, the response has been massive. People have left MSN and Yahoo chat to use the new Facebook, as they realized that having a huge list of contacts available around the clock was much better than the cumbersome process of telling people to add you, waiting for approval and ever changing display names.

Facebook emoticons – a little history

When Facebook chat was first introduced, it used a number of different emoticons written into it code, but amazingly they did not list which ones were available on that first day. Instead, they kept the list hidden, which made interest in them more and more strong. People went to the internet in droves to search for the hidden Facebook chat emoticons, and the codes for how to insert them into their chat messages.

This viral way of marketing the chat smileys was extremely successful, and it made the appearance of the chat emoticons even more exciting. Since the initial release of Facebook chat, more emotes and smilies have been introduced by the developers in order to maintain interest and to also add a little fun and spice to their users’ chat boxes. Was it successful? In the last twelve months Facebook’s pageviews have tripled whereas their ex-nemesis and rival, Myspace, has seen its own pageviews halve. A sad end to a once mighty powerhouse.

Anyway, that’s enough about the history – stay tuned to the site for more information about Facebook emoticons and also some tips about how to use them in your chats!

Facebook emoticons are little smiley faces which you can add to your Facebook chats to add some emotion to them! They have not been around for long, but are quickly becoming the ‘norm’ for anyone who uses Facebook chat on the biggest social networking website in the world.

Facebook emoticons

Why are Facebook chat emoticons hidden?

This is a question which has long puzzled people who like to use social networking websites. Why, if there are features such as emotions available, would the company not tell everyone how to use them? The answer is simple – if you tell people how to use them you clog up the screen and make it messy and less clear. You also create a more cluttered and less streamlined website – something that Facebook in particular has been trying to avoid with their site. It sets them apart, and makes them different. Actually, it’s quite a sensible approach to social networking.

So what different Facebook emoticons are available?

There are many, many emotes available for you to use, but unfortunately you can nto use them in your status or on other people’s walls. Right now, the only way to see these smileys is to use Facebook chat (which you can find in the bottom right of your screen, in the new ‘Facebook bar’ which is available when you log in).

This is just a brief introduction to emoticons, in the future I will tell you more about which ones are available and how to get them in your chats!