The most popular way to communicate with friends, family, colleagues and classmates today is via Facebook. Users communicate through a number of different ways on the social networking site. There’s the instant messenger, also known as Facebook chat, poking, private messages, wall posts and status updates. If you’ve used any of these then you know that sometimes the boundaries of text-based communication can bring along some challenges in conveying the entire message or meaning. Here is where Facebook smileys come in. They can help you to make your intent a little clearer.

As we already know social networking and e-mail are online usage that is dominating the attention of US computer users. According to a new Nielsen Company survey 40 percent of online time is spent on these activities along with video games. The “San Francisco Chronicle” believes the Nielsen data reveals that Facebook could be the key for changing online trends.

With its 500+ million users worldwide Facebook allows members to recommend news, videos and other online topics. Research shows that Americans spend just under 23 percent of their time online on blogs or social networking, which is a 43 percent jump compared to June of last year. It’s apparent that more accounts have been opened as the Baby Boomers jump on to the site to reconnect with old friends, family and classmates. What was once a networking site strictly for college students has now expanded to the corporate world of professionals and adults as well as teens and kids of all ages.

Recent industry research shows that social networking sites reach more women than men. The global report released by comScore, leader in measuring the digital world, states that women spend 30 percent more time on social networking sites than men. Apparently the reach of social networking among women is the highest in North America and Latin American regions. Although women account for 47.9% of total unique visitors to the social networking category they consume 57 percent of pages, and account for 57 percent of total minutes spent on the sites.

Another thing women likely enjoy doing while visiting social networking sites like Facebook is chatting. With the chatting comes the usage of smileys. Many ladies enjoy chatting with Facebook smileys. They are so cute and accurate of how one is feeling. They say what a person cannot always put into words. Plus they are fun. Maybe female Facebook users are more likely to use them than men are. Either way these little emoticons say it all, covering just about any emotion one can think of. They can depict anger, excitement, sadness, happiness, confusion, innocence, flirty and love-struck.

Want to find out more about Facebook smileys, then visit the site on how to use emoticons for Facebook.