A Facebook study proves 'lol' is dying out online

Facebook lol
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

There's no shortage of ways to laugh online, and for the internet literate, each option can convey something slightly different. You certainly don't want to be caught with a "hehehe" when "lolol" would be more appropriate. In April, The New Yorker explored this cultural phenomenon anecdotally, which prompted Facebook to take a harder look at the statistics behind how we express our amusement online.

Facebook analyzed its users' posts (private messages were not included in this study) and determined that only 1.9 percent of internet gigglers most commonly used "lol." Just over half of people preferred the classic "haha," a third turn to emoji, and the remaining 13 percent is rounded out by "hehe" lovers.

The results were also broken down farther. Seattleites lean on "haha" while Chicagoans are more into emoji. Young people and women also prefer emoji.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The study makes no mention of old AIM standbys like "lmfao" and "rofl," so we can only assume they went the way of the angsty lyric-filled away message.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.