LOL: Use With Caution

By: @NahREWINDatShi_

I can attest that most of you reading this are overwhelmingly grateful for the huge boom in electronic communication. Networking has never been easier and you no longer have to pick up the phone or meet with someone face to face to interact with them. Through ways of text message, tweeting, e-mail, facebook etc. people have come somewhat closer together as it may seem. Who you “know” has become a simple matter of clicking the “Add as A Friend” button.

However, there are some that argue against this move towards non-verbal electronic communication. For the most part, body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions are a significant part in daily communication between individuals that are not conveyed easily in the electronic form. Let’s face it, a text message won’t tell me if you’re tired, unhappy, stressed-out, or anxious…unless you specifically tell me so. A face-to-face conversation will, even without you mentioning one word of your mood in the dialogue. I have a perfect example from my personal experience:

The other day a female starts talking to me over Facebook chat:

First thing she tells me is that she got punched in the face and robbed at gun-point outside a bar. Now Not everyone is the same when it comes to certain absurdities, so I laugh first then tend to the matter second. With that being said, I laughed with the cliché “lmao”. Next thing she replies is “what’s so funny? You’re just another grimy n*gga…f*ck you”

As If that wasn’t enough she deleted me as a friend and then blocked me on Facebook. Then, wanting to make it clearer on how offended she was (I suppose), she sends me texts proceeding to electronically cuss me out even further, ending the text message by telling me to delete her number from my phone.

Now before you think I’m just some insensitive imbecile, I did try to apologize and explain to her because I didn’t know she was serious, But of course it was too late. She came to me so I would comfort her and instead of doing that I came off as a complete jerk when in fact, I wanted to make light of the situation with a little humor. While I tried to play it off as a joke, the way she saw it, I was just being arrogant and inconsiderate of her misfortune. I blame that on miscommunication. Had she told me that in person I would have been able to read her facial expressions, see her Body Language and hear her voice allowing me to make a much more appropriate response on my part. Online messages are unable to offer the same amount of information a regular face-to-face conversation provides. Because of this I lost… well… sex. So kids remember…..always LOL with caution.

Check out @YoungJoob’s article about Using “LOL” to speak your mind here