It's sort of contextual, I think most of the article starts from things that are true in some way, but exaggerates them and takes it a bit too far. The plain s

It's sort of contextual, I think most of the article starts from things that are true in some way, but exaggerates them and takes it a bit too far. The plain smiley can sound like sarcasm/irony or a passive-agressive tone, because it looks a little lifeless compared to modern emojis that are more expressive. It used to be the most expressive you could be, but now it's the most plain you can be. The least amount of smiling you could be smiling. It can look like a fake smile as a result.