Memes and LOLs

Every few years an Internet buzzword catches fire and people in droves begin using it all over the net. A few years ago LOL was all the rage and now thanks to The Facebook (as I like to call it), "meme" is the word du Jour. Apparently meme is pronounced mee-mm (like theme) and originates from the Greek word mimic. In the Web 2.0 world, meme refers to some text-based activity/game passed from person to person through sites like Facebook. I myself have written a few Facebook notes that would be considered "memes" by people who enjoy using web 2.0 jargon.

I will not conform to this way of web-speak as I hate the sound of that word and don't choose to use it. What's wrong with calling it a note (as it is defined in Facebook as one). I choose to take the same road when it comes to web acronyms like LOL or ROFLMAO. LOL got so bad a few years ago that people put it in most every email or AOL chat message. If I find something funny through electronic communication, I will respond with "Ha" or "HA HAAA" or "that's fucking funny." I don't need to resort to goofy acronyms to express my laughter. LOL is still one my top 10 pet peeves. And are you REALLY Laughing OUT LOUD?? I doubt it. I bet only 5 or 10 percent of the time someone types LOL while actually physically laughing loudly.

I guess I just don't believe we have to create new pseudo-words to assist with communication in a digital age. We already have all the words we need to communicate properly. Maybe I'm being a curmudgeon but I know others that feel the same way.

(I do like me some LOL CATS though)