Editing Emoticon (section)

===Graphical emoticons and other developments (1990s–present)===
Loufrani began to use the basic text designs and turned them into graphical representations. They are now known as graphical emoticons. His designs were registered at the [[United States Copyright Office]] in 1997 and appeared online as [[GIF|GIF files]] in 1998.<ref name=light>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelightmag.com/preferences-changes-in-social-media-marketingroberta-b-turner/ |title=Emoji Users Are Shaping The Future Of Messaging |first=Rene |last=Mahfood |date=2016 |work=The Light Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805221736/http://www.thelightmag.com/preferences-changes-in-social-media-marketingroberta-b-turner/ |archive-date=August 5, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europe1.fr/societe/avec-le-smiley-on-arrive-a-decontracter-tout-le-monde-2662759 |title=Avec le smiley, 'on arrive à décontracter tout le monde' |trans-title=With the smiley, 'we get to relax everybody' |date=February 4, 2016 |website=Europe 1 |language=fr |access-date=July 16, 2017 |archive-date=August 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805222619/http://www.europe1.fr/societe/avec-le-smiley-on-arrive-a-decontracter-tout-le-monde-2662759 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newstalk.com/Emojis-World-Emoji-Day-history-of-emoji-Ireland-Nicolas-Loufrani-Vyv-Evans |title=A picture paints a thousand words: Today is World Emoji Day |first=Jack |last=Quann |date=July 17, 2015 |website=newstalk.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811013424/http://www.newstalk.com/Emojis-World-Emoji-Day-history-of-emoji-Ireland-Nicolas-Loufrani-Vyv-Evans |archive-date=August 11, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> For ASCII emoticons that did not exist to convert into graphical form, Loufrani also backward engineered new ASCII emoticons from the graphical versions he created. These were the first graphical representations of ASCII emoticons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.digit.in/features/general/emoting-out-loud-the-origin-of-emojis-31252.html |title=Emoting Out Loud: The Origin of Emojis |first=Souvik |last=Das |date=August 4, 2016 |website=Digit}}</ref> He published his Smiley icons as well as emoticons created by others, along with their ASCII versions, in an online Smiley Dictionary in 2001.<ref name=light /> This dictionary included 640 different smiley icons<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hooks |first1=Matheus |title=The Untold Story Behind the Emoji Phenomeon |date=March 10, 2022 |url=https://www.hooksmagazine.com/post/silver-screen-the-untold-story-behind-the-emoji-phenomenon |publisher=Hooks magazine}}</ref><ref name="Hervez">{{cite news |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/economie/business/qui-a-invente-le-smiley-son-histoire-va-vous-surprendre-09-05-2016-5777881.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510020859/http://www.leparisien.fr/economie/business/qui-a-invente-le-smiley-son-histoire-va-vous-surprendre-09-05-2016-5777881.php |archive-date=10 May 2019 |title=Qui a inventé le Smiley ? Son histoire va vous surprendre... |trans-title=Who invented the Smiley? Its history will surprise you... |first=Marc |last=Hervez |date=May 9, 2016 |newspaper=Le Parisien |language=fr}}</ref> and was published as a book called ''Dico Smileys'' in 2002.<ref name=light /><ref name=semiotics>{{cite book |title=The Semiotics of Emoji: The Rise of Visual Language in the Age of the Internet |first=Marcel |last=Danesi |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-4742-8200-0}}{{page needed|date=October 2021}}</ref> In 2017, British magazine ''The Drum'' referred to Loufrani as the "godfather of the emoji" for his work in the field.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Deighton |first1=Katie |title=Creative The Smiley Company Emoji |url=https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/07/24/smiley-s-ceo-wants-turn-the-emoji-s-godfather-licensing-biz-global-brand |publisher=The Drum |date=July 24, 2017}}</ref>

On September 23, 2021, it was announced that [[Scott Fahlman]] was holding an auction for the original emoticons he created in 1982. The auction was held in [[Dallas]], United States, and sold the two designs as [[non-fungible token|non-fungible tokens (NFT)]].<ref>{{cite web |title=First smiley and frowny emoticons go under hammer in US |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/life/first-smiley-and-frowny-emoticons-go-under-hammer-in-us/news |publisher=[[Daily Sabah]] |date=September 11, 2021}}</ref> The online auction ended later that month, with the originals selling for [[United States dollar|US$]]237,500.<ref name="Future Zone">{{Cite web |author=<!--Staff writer; no byline--> |date=2021-09-24 |title=Erstes digitales Smiley für mehr als 200.000 Dollar als NFT versteigert |trans-title=First digital smiley sold for more than $ 200,000 as NFT |url=https://futurezone.at/digital-life/erstes-smiley-als-nft-versteigert-237500-dollar/401746341 |website=Future Zone |language=de}}</ref>

In some [[programming language]]s, certain operators are known informally by their emoticon-like appearance. This includes the [[Spaceship operator]] <code>&lt;=&gt;</code> (a comparison), the [[Generics in Java#Diamond operator|Diamond operator]] <code>&lt;&gt;</code> (for type hinting) and the [[Elvis operator]] <code>?:</code> (a shortened [[ternary operator]]).<ref name=groovy>[http://docs.groovy-lang.org/latest/html/documentation/index.html#_elvis_operator Groovy Language Documentation], includes Spaceship, Elvis and Diamond operators</ref>