Fine, let me rephrase that.
When someone puts a :( in their posts, it doesn't mean anything to me, simply because it's just a colon and a left bracket. However, if someone show genuine sincerity in a well thought out post, such as Magik Mage, I actually believe that they are being sincere.
I hate myself more than you could ever hate me and my stupidity tenfold. I'd give a sarcastic remark of thanks here, but you'd probably use that against me instantly.
Words, phrases, terms, and symbols can mean different things to different people depending on their experiences. To me, ":(" represents begrudging unhappiness or acceptance for something necessary if unwanted. I register the emoticon as such based on my experience through communication and the patterns I've found myself and my frequent friends using it as.
Obviously it means different things to other people.
Right here, I wanted to make another frowning face to conclude this.
I'm sorry for wasting your time in my meaningless, self-absorbed, angsty stuff.