:) (\! @, >+ ; #^ to emote or to punctuate?

I think that internet/text messaging emoticons are responsible for lots of misunderstanding and likely broken or troubled relationships; a cyber wink to me may be a tic to you - a sheepish smile, ;) may be misconstrued as a pained expression-- What does :) mean? Is :0 a chuckle? awe? invitation?

can we go back to the day when people actually talked rather than hide behind the cyber world where anonimity and punctuation turned symbols are the new way to express emotion--how cowardly can we be? what happened to honesty, and taking chances? what happened to eye contact and conversation? real time exchange of ideas?

in internet inspired connections, we can simply choose to respond to whatever we feel like without considering the impact on the other person; are we creating entire generations of people who feel free to emote cautiously or vigorously with nary a care to the other person? without the slightest ability to read the cues from the other side?

perhaps I shall stop my rant; see the beauty of the internet/email? I have no idea if you are bored, disagree or agree with me, perhaps you find me amusing; it doesn't matter. I want to say something, I can say whatever I want and well :) and <) and ;)*