I’m not an impatient person, per se; I just really like to get straight to the point, which explains my love for instant messaging and why I’m willing to admit that I am indeed, an instant message-aholic. At any given time throughout the day, my computer screen resembles a photosensitive epileptic’s worst nightmare with enough flashing IM boxes to send any unsuspecting visitor to my desk into a frenzied seizure.
Like many other modern internet dwellers, I have adapted instant messaging as a primary means for communicating with the people in my life – my friends revel at my thorough use of the various IM capabilities from simple messaging, to sharing music, to video chatting – I’d make a great spokeswoman. Except for one minor little detail: I can’t stand internet lingo, especially LOL, the oh-so overused abbreviation for “laugh out loud.” When an instant message made entirely up of words is funny enough to make me laugh out loud, I feel like it deserves much more recognition than a drab, thee-lettered response can offer.
The other day, while attempting to diffuse the flurry of flashing IM boxes, I couldn’t help but feel like I was drowning in a sea of misplaced letters – OMGs, ROFLs, BRBs, oh my! Being a self-proclaimed lover of efficiency, one would assume that abbreviated phrases like LOL are staples of my online vocabulary. Quite the opposite, though. Call me pessimistic, but when my IM counterpart responds to one of my infamous gynecologist jokes with an LOL, I can’t help but wonder if he/she is on the other side doubling over with laughter as their response implies, or if they are just one of those evil, reckless LOLers. I have a feeling that more often than not, it’s the latter.
This prompted a secret experiment.
With my coworkers as my [involuntary] test subjects (oh yeah, thanks for participating, guys! ), I set out to get to the bottom of this “LOL” thing. I began chatting up a storm; cracking my best jokes and emptying my reserve of funny stories on to each and every one of them. I meticulously recorded the results.
And they were staggering. The relationship between LOLs and actual laughter illustrated by the results of this über scientific experiment allows us to infer this: that while generic internet lingo may be an effective time-saver, it doesn’t always convey the message you want it to. One could even go as far as to say that it’s enough to deter me – *ahem* someone from making jokes EVER again. Maybe…
I know these results are glum, but don’t fret my little honest and efficiency-loving friends! Luckily, the Platrium Playbar has tons of smileys, emoticons and graphics to ensure that you are getting your exact message across.
Amy Phun Guy Phung
Cutomer Support Rep
