Conveying electronic messages according to representation of emotion

A processor-executed method for exchanging electronic messages using a messaging tool or service, comprising:

• subscribing by a community of computer users to the messaging tool or service;
• requesting an alert by one or more users of the community of computer users when at least one emoticon is used in an electronic message exchange using the messaging tool or service;
• posting by a first user an electronic message of the electronic message exchange to a channel using the messaging tool or service;
• responding to the electronic message by a response of the electronic message exchange sent by a second user, the response including an emoticon;
• determining that the emoticon of the response is among the at least one emoticon;
• and
• determining which of the one or more users is to receive a notification of the electronic message exchange based on the requested alert.

A computer system, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory device coupled to the processor;
• one or more remote computer servers in communication with the processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage device coupled to the processor, wherein the storage device
• contains program code executable by the processor via the memory device to implement a method for conveying an electronic message according to a representation of an emoticon, comprising:
• defining by a plurality of computer users an interpretation of a plurality of emoticons;
• receiving an electronic message accessible to the plurality of computer users;
• receiving a response to the electronic message including an emoticon of the plurality of emoticons;
• determining one or more recipient users of the community of computer users for receiving a notification when the emoticon is transmitted with the response to the electronic message including determining a match between the emoticon transmitted with the response and an interpreted emoticon of the plurality of emoticons defined by the other recipient users;
• and
• transmitting the notification to the one or more recipient users of the community of computer users when the emoticon transmitted with the response is recognized by the one or more recipient users based on the defined interpretation of the emoticon.