An attention-seeking smiley, you say?
Edit: oh well, you'll have to click on it, sorry
I don't use them that often, and very rarely more than 1 at a time. But I think the basic ones like smile, frown, grin etc are very important especially when what you say can be misinterpreted without a facial expression.
Example:
"You complete goit." <-- offensive
"You complete goit" <-- playful




" <-- playful
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