Back to the classics, as Facebook says LOL is gone, Haha is how we laugh now to describe our enthusiastic appreciation of online humor. Though one of the most widely known acronyms around the world, “LOL” or “laughing out loud” has now faded into the dark depths of the internet used phrases, where others such as “ROFL” or “LMFAO” have been quietly waiting.
Facebook has taken it upon themselves to conduct a study and observe how users laugh online, or “e-laughing”, splitting the community into four categories: haha, lol, hehe or emoji. Further in depth of the same research has also delved into many variations that can be confusing due to the subtle differences between a “hahahahahahaha” and a “hahahahhhhahahahaha”, the latter of which gives off the impression of being too busy laughing to care about things like spelling.
The study has also uncovered the popularity of the six letter formation “hahaha” and a surprising amount of the general button smashing “hhhaaahhhaaa” or other variations. It’s also quite impressive of Facebook of compiling the list in such subtle detail.
A broader range of the study has also been released to the public, and the hahaers (hahars, hahahers, hahars, or whichever variation you might think more appropriate) have it. According to Facebook, 51.4% of users are now using the simple “haha” to display their amusement. It’s easy, quick to type and there’s no mystery behind its meaning even for those less in the know with internet trends.
Meanwhile, all the lolers have seemed to abandoned their catchphrase as it has now reached a mere 1.9% of users who still remember the acronym. However, the internet is sometimes like a living organism, changing, adapting and viciously disposing of what it no longer needs.
It seems that “LOL” will have its own page in internet history to present to future generations before launching ourselves into explanations why it took over our vocabulary and it was included in a few dictionaries. The younglings might not understand that voice recording and microphones were not as common ‘back in our day’ to prove that we’re “laughing out loud”.
With “haha” in the lead, the silver medal of laughing goes to emoji’s at 33.7% and the bronze to “hehe” at 13.1%, which is admittedly not too far away from the clear winner of this competition. The categories were also divided further down based on gender and age.
Men seemed to be more avid users of “hehe”, while women were more likely to prefer expressing their amusement through emojis. The younger generation has also shown a tendency toward using the yellow-faced blobs, while the older around mid-aged users have remained behind the trends and bravely still using “LOL”. At this point, it can be assumed that they’re keeping its spirit alive.
According to Facebook, the majority of users stick with just one form of expressing laughter and only 20% alternate between two. It’s an interesting insight about how vocabulary, expressions and general ways of communicating feelings evolve along with technology.
They come in many shapes, spelling and sizes that might actually still change at some point. The question is now what new form of online laughter will become popular in the future.
Image source: edge.alluremedia.com.au
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.