So many of us typing 'LOL' when we aren't laughing or moving a facial muscle. It's almost habitual now. We have to admit, we may have a problem. lol.
There are over 170k words in the dictionary and we went with lol.
We use it frequently and insincerely. What started off as an expression of humour or laughter has now ended up as a default we turn to when we want to end a conversation, cushion an unpopular opinion, play down the sarcasm and the worst of them - we’ve probably started using it unconsciously.
After a thorough analysis of my own text messages, a review of active group chats, and an Instagram Q session I have done what no one asked me to do.
Articulate the findings. lol.
While re-evaluating a massive rant I downloaded on a friend, I realized, I used lol in the following context - I’m so frustrated. lol.
Why did I do that? When I actually think of it - I had no idea at all. habit? maybe. but when did I start? what purpose did that lol serve? Was I ashamed of being judged? not a single part of me was laughing for sure.
Group chats evaluations revealed LOLs and lols. The context was everything. LOLs probably brought in a few smiles, chuckles, or grins. lols were most definitely fillers.
Could we be using lol because the alphabets are pretty close on the keypad?
My Instagram questionnaire further confirmed what I was feeling - it was being used to end conversations, used excessively despite being aware, used to make a statement or piece of advice seem less harsh, used because one may not have the resources or the mental capacity to deal with the situation at the time.
This was incredibly insightful and comforting in a weird way.
We add a lol so nonchalantly, like a little nervous giggle, mostly to our more serious texts as a way of ‘keeping things light’ which must reinforce that everything is OK - I have it all together.
I am left wondering why?
Is it because we are too afraid to admit things aren't that great? or we’re afraid to ‘burden’ the other person? or something else entirely?
I don’t know, I’m trying to figure it out and thought why not set some of you on that path too…
My other observation was when we experience moments of pure exhaustion, we opt for a short and sweet response that may fully articulate our thoughts, and lol delivers on that front every time.
This classic overuse probably has its effects on our styles of communication and most definitely has all our English teachers rolling their eyes in disgust.
The point of this piece wasn’t to shame an excessive lol-user, but maybe spark a re-evaluation of its use. I did a search of lol in a few of my conversations and the results were not surprising at all. Now that I’m aware of my deep-seated lol dependency, I’m attempting a lol- detox, let’s see how far I can get. I encourage anyone who thinks they might be stuck in the lol rut to do the same.
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