More and more people are taking to expressing their virtual personality on the nets. One of the most crucial underlinings of internet language is what lingo is acceptable in response to something funny, witty, or ridiculously hilarious. I’m here to help those who are curious about these unwritten social networking laws:
The ‘lol’.
‘Laughing out loud‘ or ‘laugh out loud’. The definition of ‘lol’ has greatly dimished over time and does not in fact represent it’s acronym in present day internet culture. It gained the most use in internet communication starting with the popular AOL chat in the early 90s. What was meant as a roar of hearty laughter has become a more subdude mental sneeze or chuckle. However, the phrase continues to receive lots of mileage and is the most common form of an online hilarious reaction. Variants include “LOL”, “lols”, “lolz”, “lawl”, “lulz”, and “looooool” depending on three factors: age, maturity level, common english skillz.
When do I use ‘lol’?
This can be a difficult decision because you don’t want to look like a noob in conversation. The best case scenario would be to use it in response to a witty, non-personal joke that warrants applause for energy and effort. For example, videos and content by Yahtzee from escapistmagazine.com are best known for getting a ‘lol’ because of the fast-paced intellectual British wry wit. The “haha’s” should be limited and varied unless you know the dude/dudette personally or have a personal connection online. Keep it lower case for the most part and limit the caps to a topic you have a connection with.
The ‘haha’.
The ‘haha‘ is one of a series of laughs dedicated directly to the sound of which a laugh is originated, the mouth or le bouche. It’s most commonly used for a deep personal expression of taste, preference, or acceptance between family or good friends that share inside jokes or personal banter only you may ‘get’. The variants can be “HAHA” for an added bigger seemingly sarcastic punch (but it’s gotta be REALLY damn funny to be pulled off correctly, you don’t want to seem desperate like you’ve never laughed before), “hahaha”, “haaahahaha”, “bwahaha” and sometimes even just “ha” - much like the way you would go to a show and buy your friend’s band’s t-shirt because no one else can afford to pay $20 for that crap.
When do I use ‘haha’?
To properly use ‘haha’ you must first have a solid online relationship with that person OR want to pursue things further over time without blowing your load by throwing out the “HAHA” too soon. If it’s still early, take it slow - you don’t want to be the overlaugher that turns the other person off right away. It’s your job to properly guide them through your personality with your reactions, don’t give it away with sympathy “haha’s” for free. Make them work for that big ‘HAHA’. It will come, but be patient because it may take time for it to develop. They should be worth it and relatively good looking.
I’m not advocating you should follow my opinionated unwritten social laws, because laws are meant to be broken - rather these tips I have offered may give you the proper edge in order to maintain a decent and hip rapport with old and new online chums. Please use responsibly.
