One of the things that cause problems online tends to be the difficulty in reading the tone of someone else’s post. Emojis are a way of adding some nuance and tone to the words. I also tend to think they help make up for the lack of non-verbal communication so that posting 
tells someone that you found their joke amusing in a similar way that a smile or laugh would, without writing “That was funny, I smiled”.
So for me they have value, or maybe my plan to stay youthful into my dotage is working.
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Emojis are for twitterface sub teens, not required in adult forums
Yes I’m a fully functioning bah humbug, crusty ol’ git, but if I need to make myself clear in basic simple forum web email communications by using them, time for me to quit.
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The perfect example. I’ve literally no idea what conceit that face is meant to convey.
No clue.
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A picture paints a thousand words…
Maybe an emoji doesn’t quite have the full impact of 1000 words but it can be an efficient way of communicating sentiment that would otherwise need a rather clumsy rider to be added to the substance of a posting.
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No, don’t worry, no intention of quitting, I’m just a crusty ol’ fart, past sell by date & doesn’t ‘get’ emojis, or the LOL stuff.
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Aw c’mon, they’re just a bit of fun … lighten up, perhaps, peeps. 
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Would If I could read them.
???.
I agree, though sometimes if making a comment intended to be humorous but potentially capable of being misconstrued it can be helpful to add a smiley (or variant thereof). This perhaps applies most when responding to someone whose first language isn’t English, when nuances may be more likely to be missed.
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Mrs AC keeps messaging me with that one - it scares me. It’s horrible.
Edited now.
… we’z is lightenin’’ up, but they ain’t no fun
Course they are, get down wid de kids … or in my case, de grandkids.
It’s all good, just open de mind. 
.
I agree, they have a place in forums and other online discussions, simply because they are discussions, not essays. I think they require a different syntax to other forms of written communication to compensate for the fact that you can’t read the tone of voice and facial expressions that enrich a face to face conversation. An emoji can be an effective way to achieve this. All the more so for some of the people for whom English is a second language.
Exploding sausage, anyone…
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At an average age of between 50 and 70 we should be able to communicate without using pictures, by no means am I one of the longest users of this forum but even I can remember a time when we all spoke to one another without them but so far it seems I’m in the minority here and have been shown up to be a bit of an old crusty by all of you ‘funsters’ out there.