Monday, August 17, 2015

What Your e-Laugh Says About You


by Susanne Dietze

Ever wonder how hip you are? How with-it? If you have teenagers, like I do, you are probably schooled on a regular schedule on how young you no longer are.

But like me, you try to stay in touch with cultural shifts. You're not a dinosaur.

Well, Facebook put it to the test for me recently when they analyzed the ways users "e-laugh"--you know, show amusement in virtual settings like Facebook comments.



How do you e-laugh? Let's take a one-question Quiz:

When you respond to something funny, either in a text or on Facebook, how do you respond? Choose one that most reflects you:
  1. Type out a full response to indicate you are amused ("you're hilarious!")
  2. Type "LOL"
  3. Type "haha"
  4. Type "hehe"
  5. Use an emoji of a laughing face
(Cue Jeopardy theme.)

Ready with your answer?

I was. I didn't take this quiz, mind you, or any variant of it. I saw the results and thought, Huh. Because I chose "LOL" and/or emojis. (The kids text "haha" and I admit, I read it as flat sounding, sarcastic. I do not hear someone rolling on the floor laughing out loud.)

Ok, here's what Facebook found.

Half of all users type "haha" in their responses. Emojis (which means "picture word" in Japanese) are the second most popular way to e-laugh, coming in at 35%.

And LOL? Well, apparently, only 5% of those studied used it. And those who use it...are over 30.

(Well, yes. I am. I am sure this does not come as a shock to you.)

The Cool Kids (ie young adults) use "ha" or "he" in various combinations, sometimes repetitively. Hahahahahaha, they say when they read this blog post. As in hahahaha our parents would be soooo lost without us XP

(XP being, of course, a good response as an e-laugh.)
Face With Stuck-Out Tongue And Tightly-Closed Eyes

Women use emojis more than men, which makes perfect sense in my experience. My husband does not enjoy scrolling through little pictures of cute animals, and he'd rather type out his feelings than express them with a little yellow circle face. (Teen boys, however, do use emojis in my personal experience. Maybe having a mortgage lessens a male's interest in emojis.)
Hamburger
Yes, I DO understand this emoji, thank you very much.
So to stay young, on Facebook at least, I need to scrap "LOL" and move onto emojis. But what emojis? Sure, I use them. I send this one to my Hubs a lot:

Smiling Face With Heart-Shaped Eyes

But other emojis? The non-yellow face variety? I feel ancient admitting this, but I can't figure some of them out.

I mean, what is this one? Someone teenaged in my house who will remain nameless received this emoji in response to something funny she said, rather than a haha or hehe
1f481-information-desk-person-apple-new-2015-final

Naturally, like all out-of-it people, I asked "What does that mean?" The kids said "it's a positive thing" and "you just have to intuit emojis" blah blah, which means I headed to Google. And I'm still confused.

Apparently it's called Information Desk Person. It can be used to communicate:
  • You're sassy.
  • You're sarcastic.
  • You are carrying an invisible tray. (Not really. But using my intuition, I'd say that is precisely what the girl is doing.)

Let's go with You're Sassy.
1f64e-person-with-pouting-face-apple-new-2015-final
This is a Pouting Face Person. I do not get it. She doesn't look unhappy. She looks...well, never mind. Nobody asked me. The point is, I need to keep up. So fine, she's pouting.

Why does this matter? Well, authors are supposed to keep up a bit with social media. We tweet. We Facebook. And I suppose it doesn't matter that much, but I'm nevertheless going to say goodbye to the Ol' Faithful of LOL and embrace something new.
Face With Tears Of Joy
Because if you can't laugh at yourself....
Although by the time you read this, I'm sure the "laugh so hard I'm crying" emoji face will be way, way extinct. 

But what the Cool Kids don't know?

It's also called the "LOL" Emoji.

***

Susanne Dietze likes to LOL. She also writes historical romance, with no emojis used at all. You can visit her website at www.susannedietze.com.

Emoji pics from www.emojipedia.org

6 comments:

  1. Ha! This proves I'm a kid at heart. :D

    I prefer Ha! over Haha, although I've been known to hahahahaha frequently.

    In fact, I prefer hahahahaha over LOL or lol anyday. LOL makes me think of someone lolling their head to the side with their tongue hanging out. Must be my over-active imagination. Ha!

    :)

    Fun post to start the week off, Susie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're one of the cool kids, Anita Mae! haha. I like when you type Ha! because I can hear your laugh. And I like to hear you laugh!

      :D

      Delete
  2. I have tended toward Lol, or hahaha. But I also use hee. So - I have an extra "ha" in haha. And an extra "e" in he. As usual, I'm dancing to a different drum.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, I think super cool people use "hahaha" and "hee" is definitely hip, too, Suzie! Haha!

      Delete
  3. ha ha may come across as sarcastic. can't say I'm not using it in sarcasm at times. I never use LOL. I'm happy to not be cool in any case. And now I have to go see why Aidan Turner's name is on the list at the right.

    ReplyDelete

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