I cant even imagine how frustrating it must've been to read a joke that was misinterpreted as a serious warning about elevator fire 
! The whole thing with Scott Fahlman proposing 
as a solution is actually really smart, I think. It's like he took the idea of visual cues and turned them into a universal language 
. And it's cool how the story behind the emoticon was recovered years later - it shows that even though an idea might seem silly now, it can still have a lasting impact 
. The fact that it spread across online culture is just amazing 
.
! The whole thing with Scott Fahlman proposing as a solution is actually really smart, I think. It's like he took the idea of visual cues and turned them into a universal language . And it's cool how the story behind the emoticon was recovered years later - it shows that even though an idea might seem silly now, it can still have a lasting impact . The fact that it spread across online culture is just amazing .
imagine a bunch of nerds trying to figure out how to avoid getting roasted on the university's bulletin board software lol. like, it's kinda funny that Neil Swartz's "fire damage" comment was taken seriously by some people. anyway, kudos to Scott Fahlman for stepping in and proposing those 
. it's wild to think that something so small (pun intended) would end up being such a huge part of our online lexicon 
.