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Love them or hate them, cutesy little acronyms like this just don’t have a place in business communications. However, for some people, they’ve become so habitual that they almost can’t help but use them everywhere. In light of this lack of meaning, one artist and tinkerer has devised a way to judge whether or not the “LOL” is sincere.
Let’s take a few moments to examine what this artist has created…and why, frankly, the idea is a little ingenious.
Moore had long been cognizant of how meaningless LOL has become—”laughing out loud” transferring from an admission that something had elicited an outburst of sincere laughter to little more than an acknowledgement, almost a bit of flair to add to any communication. It was this realization that inspired him to devise a device that would verify that someone was actually laughing out loud before sending the LOL message.
He ultimately created just that—the LOL Verifier.
We’ll let him explain it for himself:
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>I made this thing called LOL Verifier: a device that only lets you type lol if you’ve actually laughed out loud <a href=”https://t.co/Gsc63yGEm0″>pic.twitter.com/Gsc63yGEm0</a></p>— Brian Moore (@lanewinfield) <a href=”https://twitter.com/lanewinfield/status/1610294277434933249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>January 3, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
In short, Moore built a device that would automatically filter out LOLs that the user didn’t actually laugh out loud before typing, automatically replacing it with a less specific form of appreciative approval…and based on the response that the public in large has had, a device that he plans to release the code for (with the warning that it requires a solid 20 or so minutes of training, which in this case means laughing at your computer).
In so many words: sincerity. While this use is extremely niche and arguably pointless (and in fairness, it is an enthusiast’s project), it does highlight how separated what we type has become from how we feel. How often have you or someone you know sent a quick LOL almost automatically, without really feeling much emotion at all?
LOL Verifier eliminates that, keeping us all a little more honest.
Admittedly, this project isn’t exactly one that directly applies to the business world…but having said that, it does show how the right technology can be used to solve problems.
For instance, what if, instead of insincere LOLs, you wanted to prevent problematic emails from ever reaching your team’s inboxes? Spam filtering helps accomplish this automatically. Antivirus measures help keep viruses at bay, all in the background. Content filtering help keeps your workstations off of inappropriate or risky websites.
