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"Protip: Learn to laugh it off. Another thing when you decide to be a bitchass; add a smiley. Trust me it makes all the difference. "

I grew skeptical of the advice at this point. Putting a 'smiley' after an unpleasant statement is the equivalent of saying it with a snide smirk on your face.

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it just goes to show that your not trying to be malicious in your somewhat harsh statement. Sometimes there is no way to put something delicately to a complete stranger. adding the smiley is more of a way to get the reader to look at it as constructive as supposed to judgement on the person asking the question.

Unfortunately, some people use it to be snide, so its unclear and should be avoided. Some think that adding a 'smiley' is a license to be tactless, blunt or insulting, but it's better to learn how to express ones thoughts properly. 'just sayin' serves the same faulty purpose. If you feel the need to add one of those to avoid being misinterpreted, rewrite your statement. 'not trying to be harsh' or 'please take this as constructive criticism' are more expressive.

(+1) I totally agree, but people tend to be lazy, especially when their goal is to help the person rather than dealing with them as a human being.

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