Friday, October 1, 2010

LOL-Response to Tiffany Cao's Question

I found this question that Tiffany brought up.  It amused me a little, so I decided to write about it:

    During lunch, a question randomly popped up and I asked if everyone actually LOLs(Laugh out loud) when they are chatting?
   Honestly, I usually use LOL incorrectly. I do not laugh out loud. I just smile or have an content face as my expression. Why must we use LOL? Is it because it's shorter than "haha" Why must we use LOL?
I believe that the acronym LOL appeared because a person who easily laughed actually laughed out loud when chatting or text and got tired of typing “laugh out loud” and made LOL up, then people talking to him didn’t realized at that he/she was actually laughing out loud and that he just meant “hey that’s funny” or something in that content.  They then started saying it and passed it on, and so on.  Since the “l” and the “o” are right on top of each other, it is easy to type LOL quickly.  It’s much faster than typing LQTM (“laugh quietly to myself”) or simply haha.  It soon becomes a habit, and then now everyone is doing it.

            Another reason may be that someone might actually laugh out loud if the person talked to them in real life and said the thing he/she typed.  In the effort to make the conversation more realistic, they say “LOL” because they would actually laugh out loud in real life.  It gives a visual of what the person does, making it feel more real.  If people were talking from different sides of the country so something, that visualization makes them feel closer.

            Also, it’s a good indication for when people are happy or not.  For example, since it becomes a habit to say “LOL” and it is so easy to type it, they could say it a lot, absent mindedly, when they are happy.  If they don’t say it often, you can see that they are not in a good mood without having to see their face.  Inc conclusion, I think people say LOL out of a habit, its quick, to make the conversation feel more real, and it is a good indication of the other’s mood. 

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