Should the :der: smiley be removed?

[snailsontour]

???/ out for the afternoon and home to find all this going on and I've missed something I don't even understand - oh well, no change then

[tiger]

I wouldn't worry snails, it's all becoming a bit boring now.

[Dominic]

Dom - can I just say one thing? I am not having a dig but this concerns me. Your signature says this 'is not real life it is the internet' or words to that effect.

Actually this is a part of real life and peoples feelings are affected by what is posted. Clearly yours have been. I try to treat forum friends like remote collaegues (sp), people I speak to or email most days but will never meet, and try to afford forum members the same respect. Once that respect is broken it is quite hard to get it back so lets all try to be at least polite to each other and think before we post - me included .

It's just a muse really. Ultimately real life - partners, people we work with, family, neighbours etc are 'real life'. Whilst obviously everyone here is also a real person, it's ultimately a box or a slab we all interact with them on, not the same as meeting, interacting, hearing the tone in their voice, etc. What is meant by my signature is down to individual interpretation. I do agree with your comments. Internet forums are full of misinterpretation though because it is purely the written word, and as we know, the vast majority don't conduct all their 'real life' communication with written words or use an icon to express their feelings. Like I say, a muse.