Oh! I forgot that word processors automatically turn a sideways smiley into a graphic, upright, yellow smiley, as you see in my previous comment. In emails though, the sideways smiley stays as is and shows more clearly its distinction from the Eastern upright smiley.

The fact that word processors have this auto-correct or recognition system for Western smileys (but not for Eastern ones) is further proof that the Internet is more visibly Western-shaped. This, however, does not mean that non-Western influence is absent. It’s simply hidden or silenced. Books like “Internationalizing Internet Studies” helps make them more visible and voiced. ＼(^o^)／

Wow! Those conference presentations are certainly aligned with this book’s theme, Liv. I reckon their articles could be part of the sequel to Goggin and McLelland’s, which, to my recollection, does not make any reference to the Internet presence of Frisian and Irish minority languages. Of course, there’s a host of other languages online that can be explored and written about–certainly a promising research topic.

Thanks for sharing, Alex. Interesting read! Speaking of directionality in emojis, I found another blog entry that talks about orientation as one of the evident distinctions between Western and Eastern emoticons. Western happy is 🙂 while Eastern is ^_^. Essentially, Western emoticons require you to tilt your head, making Eastern emoticons easier to read. Here’s the link: http://www.8asians.com/2011/09/27/all-about-asian-emoticons/

Enjoy (^_~)