This past week, I have been trying to be an online social butterfly. From friends and family to random people online, I have been responding to them all. However, there was something I noticed in most of my messages, a common occurrence not with just one person, but with multiple people. And we all use this acronym so much nowadays that there are memes of people typing it and not actually expressing it in IRL (In real life). By now you have probably figured out, the acronym "LOL" is the acronym up for discussion today. Do we use it too much today in our society or is there a deeper significance to using it?
"LOL" means "laugh out loud" in Internet terms. Back in the day when someone typed LOL, that person would actually be laughing out loud in real life. Short acronyms like "LOL" or "BTW" (by the way) makes texting people online easier. Instead of typing out the entire phrase, someone can type out these letters and it is universally understood what they are talking about. Basic Internet terminology aside, I noticed that I wasn't the only one typing this. My cousin and I text a lot about video games like "Overwatch" (2016) and a good 90% of her texts end in "lol." But why, why end it with this word? Well, sometimes by typing "LOL," it sort of helps the receiver understand the tone of the person's text. A lot of the time, one does not know if someone's message is happy, sarcastic or straight-up mean. There are outliers, of course, with online message boards like Twitter and Instagram, but it is surprisingly more difficult with regular text messages. So typing "LOL" can help decipher a person's tone of voice but that can't be the only reason right? Well, let's take myself for example.
When I message people online, I write my messages how I would actually talk. I use proper English and emoticons. When I personally type "LOL" I do it to add a little laughter after my messages. A lot of times, when I or other people talk, there is a sort of giggle after each remark. For example, let's say I am waiting for my friend to pick a drink. And this friend is taking a long time trying to decide what they want to drink. I might playfully tease them and say something like, "so are you going to pick a drink or... (laughter)." I use it in a playful sense. And this is how "LOL" appears online to others. But obviously, we don't laugh in real life like "LOL;" we chuckle with the word "hehe." But using "hehe" isn't always great, so that is why I personally stay away from using it.
The way I see it, saying "hehe" online is more of a nervous laughter than "LOL" and it kind of comes off as creepy in some cases. If I am messaging a girl, I like on Snapchat, I would (1) be painstakingly analyzing every word I typed out to her to not make me seem like a fool, (2) Take a good picture with every streak I sent and (3) would not use "hehe." Like I mentioned earlier it comes off as kind of creepy in my opinion if you message that to a girl in a flirtatious way. That is why the safe option is to use "LOL." Obviously don't over do it but that's with everything. My paranoid love life is not the only instance where "LOL" is seen as definitively better than "hehe". A lot of younger children today own water bottles and carry them around during school and extracurricular activities. These bottles are so cheap and popular that you can find an entire bin filled with them at Walmart during back-to-school season. But these bottles are filled with words like "LOL" or "XD" and not actual words like "hehe." Because the shorter form of laughing (LOL) is more appealing to everyone's eyes. No one is going out of their way to find a water bottle or a shirt that says "hehe."
So what is the point of this article? Is this a call to stop using "LOL" so frequently in our everyday lives? Is it time to revolt and come up with a new word to acronym our text messages? The answer to all those questions is simply no. I wrote this article because I found it funny that I messaged so many people this past week and noticed how often I simply type "LOL." I was actually about to type it again at the end of that last sentence, but I stopped myself. So continue on with your life and see what other words you use so much.
