Rives tells a story of mixed emoticons

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/rives_tells_a_story_of_mixed_emoticons.html

This video is really interesting; and comes to the heart of how we use language as a social semiotic (i.e. a socially constructed set of common meanings and understandings). Language is changing. How can this be used in teaching? Get students to write a story using only emoticons; and then rewrite it in more formal language. See if students can guess the meaning of each other’s work. How is communication altered?