Sometimes referred to as smilies, though IMO that word describes the 3ish character subset that look like a face at 90 degrees⁰, and predating emoji¹ by quite some time².
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[0] Like :-)
[0] and many many others: ;-) :-( :-| :-p 8-) …
[1] the graphical alternatives
[2] first commonly used in the early 80s, even before my time online, where emoji turned up right at the end of the 90s
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[0] Like :-)
[0] and many many others: ;-) :-( :-| :-p 8-) …
[1] the graphical alternatives
[2] first commonly used in the early 80s, even before my time online, where emoji turned up right at the end of the 90s