e.g. "Laughing out Loud"

In the past week, I have read the phrase "I laughed out loud at" on Facebook from two people I would consider both highly educated and intelligent, which left me to wonder, "hmm, if only there were an easy-to-use acronym usable in informal writing to convey this very idea"...lol

Internet slang, leet, netspeak or chatspeak (e.g. lol, omg, wtf, rofl, stfu etc.) is commonplace, but is it a good or bad thing for the English language?

First, I will say that I generally am for economy of language. Language is how ideas are shared by people, and so the easier it is to understand, the more easily ideas are communicated. As with most things, simpler is easier, and so to paraphrase Einstein, "things should be as simple as possible, but no simpler."

Particularly with academic writing, the desire to sound intelligent (read: "pretentiousness") often trumps clarity, resulting in a smart-sounding yet convoluted result. In other words, bad writing that fails to communicate.

Internet slang was born out of a desire for efficiency, to save key strokes, but is by no means unique in its usage. English has numerous formal contractions such as "can't" and "don't," and particularly in the USA we love our acronyms. As with contractions and acronyms, it simply allows us to communicate the same meaning more easily.

I believe people that don't like it don't because it is not generally accepted as "formal" style, reflecting a general tendency of slang being considered synonymous with stupidity or lack of education by the book-learned. Funny though how for these same folk the above "e.g" and its fellow "i.e." "et. a." "etc." etc. are snootiness merit badges, even though they perform the exact same role as their evil internet speak brethren.

One problem with chat speak is not its usage in and of itself, but when it is used without an understanding of its meaning. I think "lol" has actually acquired nuances in addition to "laughing out loud," such as "please don't take my previous statement in complete seriousness," but it certainly shouldn't be used in place of a period.

Interestingly, the Latin phrases used in their abbreviated form mostly in academic writing are mistakenly used in nearly the exact same way: many people cannot distinguish the usage of e.g. and i.e., much less tell you what they stand for.

The other problem is when slang becomes the only way we know to express ourselves. If you can only express your outrage, surprise, astonishment, surprise, disbelief or shock with the phrase "omg," perhaps it is time to read more books.

But used knowledgeably and where appropriate or funny, internet slang can add efficiency, fun and nuance to English, and I think all of those are good things :)