Like you Trevor I'm behind in following this thread. So I'll just comment that IMHO the use of emoticons and common abbreviations is acceptable in a setting such as this. The judicious use of emoticons allows the transmission of body language and so gives the dialogue a more conversational flavour. One can also relax - but not abandon - the rules of grammar, just as people do in a conversation. Of course other writing calls for the correct use of language. I can assure you that my thesis is totally devoid of emoticons.
Likewise, back to the salt mines.
