The LOL That Killed The Convo - Guest Post by Urooj Hussain

First of all, I would like to thank Furree Katt for inviting me to write a guest post on her blog. Thanks Furree, love you! ^__^ 

And here is my post:

If there was ever a conversation killer in this world, if there was anything that has always mercilessly slaughtered the art of gab, it has been the word (usually when it is a response to something):

'LOL'.

People rarely ever use it now as a means to communicate via text or online communication that they are actually “laughing out loud”.

like this.

They instead seem to use it when they are nothing else to say or else say it when they are actually not finding something funny at all. So basically it just gets really sarcastic and whenever someone says “lol” to something that I have said I take it to mean one of these things:

Oh crap, she stumped me.

I wish you'd just shut up!

Let me give you the following examples that I have experienced:

Me: Hi! What’s up?

Random Friend:  Hey nothing much, just brushing up on my literature. I’m reading

Me: oh that’s great! I love to read. What are you reading?

Random Friend: Twilight! I love Edward!

Me: Err…You call that literature?

Random Friend: yes of course, amazing, never read anything like it ever, simply amazing!

Me: Dude, what world are you living in? You call tales of glittery metro-sexual vampire ‘literature’? Why don’t you try reading Hemingway, or at least for a start try Roald Dahl or something?

Random Friend: lol…

^and that’s where the convo ended. I mean for heavens sake! They could just have said that no they prefer light reading or that you LIKE glittery vampires but no, they had to just say ’lol’ and just leave the conversation hanging in the middle of nowhere because they really couldn’t bother to defend their case. I seriously don’t think my friend in question was ‘laughing out loud’ at any point here at all.

Another example:

Friend: Hey what are you doing this summer?

Me: I am going to take extra math classes.

Friend: That’s good, I am going to volunteer at a camp for retarded kids

Me: That is inappropriate use of the word, say “special” kids

Friend: lol

I really didn’t see the LOL in that at all..

I even remember a time when LOL used to be cool. I think it was somewhere back in high school (around 2002) when I first learnt the use of the term. I was not very much into internet slang and for the longest time I didn’t even know what it meant (and nor did most people my age). When we did eventually find out, it was actually thought to be really cool, and was used very carefully and appropriately as one might use the word “misanthrope” or “circumnavigation”. Not like it is used now, spewn everywhere like pigeon droppings for lack of things to say!

That is about as much as I am going to vent now. I’d love to hear your lol (lack thereof rather) story.

Urooj Hussain is a smart working woman and a really cool writer. Check out her blog, Work In Progress.