The social media giant Facebook researched how its users communicate with their friends and discovered that the shorthand for "Laughing Out Loud" (LOL) is being replaced by "haha" to show online laughter. Other popular expressions used on the social network include laughing emojis and "hehe."
Researchers at the California-based company examined posts and comments that contained "text-based laughter." It was during the last week of May.
Facebook discovered that "e-laughter" is varied and constantly changing. For instance, netizens know how to show degrees and types of happiness when texting, chatting, or posting Twitter tweets in various online situations. It's complicated.
The social networking company learned that a minimum of 15 percent of posts of account holders included some type of e-laugh. About 46 percent of users used one online laugh throughout the week assessed, while 85 percent posted fewer than five Internet laughs during that time period, according to CBC.ca.
The most popular expression of laughter was "haha," which 51 percent of users typed. It also included similar variations including "hahaha."
Laughing emojis were next (33 percent), which were followed by "hehe" (13 percent). "LOL" was used in slightly less than 2 percent of posts.
While "LOL" was hip in the 1990s and 2000s, now "haha" is the in-thing. That is among Facebook's 1.49 billion active users each month.
Facebook also examined which methods genders and locations preferred to show a happy emotion online. Men preferred "hehe" while women liked emoji better.
In terms of United States regions New York and Midwest cities such as Chicago use emoji more. However, West Coast cities such as San Francisco and Seattle are fans of "haha," according to Woky, and "LOL" is still an oldie-but-goodie expression in the South.