Just because I like to use LOL, I am not serious?!?
By ahgong
@ahgong (10064)
Singapore
February 16, 2009 8:42pm CST
When I post on the internet, I like to dot my discussions and messages with a little emoticons to show what I am feeling when I am posting the message.
It makes the message more colorful and easier to digest instead of a long list of words all stringed together in a post.
And LOL is one of the icons I used the most. Part of the reason is I enjoy reading allt he different views and responses to the discussions I find on the web, especially in mylot.
And when I enjoy the post, I will naturally be posting something that is joyful back. And it will be dotted with the LOL icon where appropriate.
Recently, I came a cross a person who deems people who uses LOL as people who are not serious. And people who laughs too much as people who are not serious either.
Hmmm... I guess this fella definitly do not believe in Santa Claus!
I mean, how can you judge whether a person is serious in doing things on not simply by looking at the LOLs he uses in his discussions?
5 people like this
16 responses
@victorywp (3524)
• United States
17 Feb 09
omg there is such a person around? i really love to use LOL in my posts. in fact, i think 99% of my posts contains LOL! i don't think it is right to judge a person based on LOL. i'm serious in doing things too. it depends on how we balance them up, right?
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
19 Feb 09
That is exactly what I thought too.
Just because I like to use the LOL in my postings in a forum, I am not serious?
I mean, duh~~~! IT is like two different things.
Before mylot implemented the emoticons, I am already dotting my messages with text emoticons. (:p, :\, xp, :D... etc)
And I was so happy when they decided to introduce the emoticons after some rallying for it.
And there are people who thinks using them makes one not serious.
How insightful eh?
@kun2349 (23381)
• Singapore
17 Feb 09
lol =D Then am i someone who's is definitely not serious at all, because ALL OF MY comments, will either have a LOL, HAHA or HEHE, in them, without fail.. lol =D
So what does that mean?? I'm always a joker?? That person cant put it that way right?? What's the point in being so serious in life?? There are certain things in life to be taken with a pinch of salt and we need joy in our life.. So, why be so serious??
After all, being serious does not mean that they are well liked by all others too, right?? Isn't it better to be laughing around and as long as we have the right attitude to things?? Also, using of LOL, is to lighten the whole tense atmosphere, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it ^_^
Who is the one that says, we ARE NOT SERIOUS?? lol =D
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
3 Jul 09
I agree with you. I use LOL adn emoticons a lot too. First of all because I am a person that enjoys laughing, second because, like you I find that they kind of "dress up" the messages a little. Plus I like to show the person that I am enjoying the discussion or having fun, or just make it a bit more like if we were talking in person. I am not the kind of person that is always serious, so those tools are the ones that allow me to show myself as who I am : cheerful. It doesn't mean that I can't be serious or that what I am posting isn't.
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
26 Feb 09
thats a silly reason for thinking that!! does that mean serious people NEVER laugh?
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
18 Feb 09
I like to make my responses colorful too. I have a good sense of humor and like to have fun with things. I use the LOLs and the smileys in my responses and have fun doing it. I by no means judge a person for using them as not being serious. Don't change who you are. Everyone is not the same but it doesn't mean you have to change.
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
19 Feb 09
I have no intention whatsoever of changing just because this fella says I am not serious because I use the LOL.
I find nothing wrong with people using it. And if I never met the person, I can never really be a judge of his/her character just based on the posting done online.
But it did got me curious to see if anyone else does that. Judge a person's character just by looking at his usage of LOLs.
Thanks for sharing though, JenInTN. It is always good to have good humor. Otherwise, life, dull as it is already, will be more dull! 
@KawaiiInu (143)
• Uruguay
6 Jul 09
That is ridiculous, as long as you don't LOL in serious topics, I don't think you should care what those people think.
1 person likes this
@alokn99 (5717)
• India
17 Feb 09
The usage of lol and emoticons is really something which is subjective to the way the person starting the discussion understands it. Further more it depends on the nature of the discussion .While it may seem to be okay to use them in most posts which are light and simple in nature, it may be a little out of place in serious discussions. Again here it depends on the basic nature of the person. Imagine yourself in a real face to face converstaion with a person and then decide when is the right time to laugh or smile. That is how i actually try to communicate while even online.
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
19 Feb 09
Precisely! And again, it goes to show that people who uses LOLs or emoticons are not people who cannot be serious.
It really have to depend on the context when it is used. Even when you are in a serious discussion, there are times when you do laugh about something. And using the appropriate icon within that discussion can bring out the expression of the author as well.
That is why I find it so weird that some people will judge someone else as serious or not just because he uses the LOLs.
@zandi458 (28102)
• Malaysia
17 Feb 09
I think using emoticons in discussions or responses spice up the writings. It can be damn boring if you read along the lines especially long winding discussions without an expression from the writer. I can relate well with all the emoticons used by the writer. I can visualize the writers facial expression especially with the LOL emoticons. Yes, he is laughing, laughing out loud when he reads by inserting the emoticons to express his feelings. It doesn't mean that we are not serious when we use LOL.
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
19 Feb 09
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean!
Using emoticons not only make posting fun. It makes reading them fun too.
And at the same time, brings out the expressiveness in the discussions being put across.
Now that we have emoticons in mylot, I cannot imaging going back to the days where there were no emoticons to use.
@youless (112497)
• Guangzhou, China
17 Feb 09
I think LOL is a positive attitude and it can make people to be happy. I can't see what's wrong with it. And actually I like to using it, too. LOL means you are happy. Why people have to be serious? We need the cheerful attitude to face our life:)
I love China
@poohgal (6845)
• Singapore
17 Feb 09
=.= What a weird fella!
I love to use emoticons and abbreviations too. I see nothing wrong with that. Of course, we can't use it in formal reports and school work but when it comes to chatting, forum-ing, blogging.. I think it's perfectly alright! \(^.^)/
Well, there are many different types of people in this world. We just have to bear with it and not let them affect us. 
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
19 Feb 09
Oh, I am not affected. I am just curious to see who else share the same kind of thoughts as that fella.
Yeah, usage of emoticons, be it the pictorial ones or the textual ones, has to be done at appropriate times. I cannot imagine sending a report to my boss that is dotted with emoticons. I would probably get the can the next day!
@maxilimian (3099)
• Indonesia
18 Feb 09
Sometimes LOL icon can be two different emoticons ... one may be just an ordinary laugh and secondly can be serious, to make a different meaning usually i make a text LOL instead of lol emoticons just like this LOL which is mean not serious ... but hey did you notice today, there is no happy and lol icon on the text code? 
which is mean not serious ... but hey did you notice today, there is no happy and lol icon on the text code? 1 person likes this
@mercuryman3a (2477)
• India
17 Feb 09
I have found that people who laugh a lot are in fact quite4 serious people anlike to present a cheerful disposition. I too love to joke aroudn and pull people's leg, but that does nto make me frivolous. Some people do take a happy disposition to mean that you are not serious about things. One does not have to pull a lon g face all teh time to appear serious.
1 person likes this
@HansonFan (1653)
• United States
17 Feb 09
That doesn't make any sense! I use emoticons all the time and I can be very serious! It depends on the topic to me. If a person uses a 
when the discussion is about murder or something, I could see that conclusion, but life is supposed to be enjoyed to me, and a person who never smiles or laughs does not seem like they enjoy anything. Have a great day and enjoy those emoticons! 
when the discussion is about murder or something, I could see that conclusion, but life is supposed to be enjoyed to me, and a person who never smiles or laughs does not seem like they enjoy anything. Have a great day and enjoy those emoticons! 
@sherry_mandajos (79)
• Philippines
17 Feb 09
hmm..I have same situation with I use a lot of periods and hmm and nyahha..and anything that I think it can beautify my sentences,.. :)
1 person likes this
@kerriannc (4279)
• Jamaica
17 Feb 09
Well you know ahgong it was only this week I was wondering the same thing. I am like you who love to use this icon. When I used it I wonder if persons think I am just using it because of its existence. I was thinking of writing about it and here you are. I used it because I actually love to laugh and when I write it I know that persons can feel my energy in the chat that I am in. I remember one day I was in my favourite chat room and a lady write the lol and it didn't dawn on me that she was laughing she had just used it. Such is life though.
My friend continue to be who you are and don't allow that negative person to take away your joy.
1 person likes this
@Valenas (1507)
• United States
17 Feb 09
I know what you mean, but I am on the opposite side of that claim; I have been told that my "walls of text" are intimidating because most of the people that I talk to on the internet tend not to capitalize or use punctuation in places such as instant messenger. My friend used to tell me that I was "being very serious" when I talk to him "properly", and would complain until "i started to type like him and stopped making my sentences right (written weirdly on purpose)," and I got used to it, so he is the only person that I do not talk to with (mostly) proper English anymore.
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
17 Feb 09
I guess it is a matter of habit.
But him liking to read not so formal english while chatting does not make him a less serious person as the one who prefers to type proper grammar in their messages.
I just find it odd that some people judge others by the way they post on a social forum like this. And then label them as not serious when they do not know the person well enough to do so.
