If I send you a message, and you think it's funny, you might reply to my message with "LOL." LOL means "laugh out loud," and it is your signal to me that what I sent you caused you to laugh.

The other day I received a message from my sister - she lives in the room adjacent to mine. She sent me a text with the words, LOL, but I could not hear her laugh. So what was LOL for?

LOL is for nuance. In a world where we text heavily to one another, LOL and emojis are our ways to create nuance in our messages. To show our fun side. Or perhaps to signal that the black and white text isn't just black and white. If it's a signal, who is the signal for?

An argument could be made that we add "LOL" and other nuance to our message for the reader's benefit. But I don't think it's for the reader - it's for the sender.

And if you're curious what I mean by that, the next time you use LOL, stop for a moment. Were you laughing before you sent it? If you were silent, then why show someone that you were not?

Who is the LOL for?