Where lol Is: Function and Position of lol Used as a Discourse Marker in YouTube Comments

Abstract

Lol is probably one of the most popular words in computer-mediated communication. It is generally taken to be the acronym of “laughing out loud”, but it is not always used to indicate a humorous response; rather, it is multifunctional. Drawing on previous studies of the different functions of lol, this paper explores a possible correlation between the position and function of non-lexicalized lol in the specific context of YouTube comments. The hypothesis is that the function of lol largely depends on its position: clause-initial lol is not used with the same functions as clause-final lol. The data for the study come from the comment threads of three popular YouTube videos posted in 2017, 2018 and 2019 on the channel Miranda Sings, a channel posting humorous videos, which has a very wide audience and 10 million subscribers. The complete comment threads total 20,287 comments and 886 distinct occurrences of non-lexicalized lol. The analysis of the occurrences is both quantitative, aimed at determining the proportions of each use and position, and qualitative. Using the tools of discourse analysis and pragmatics, the study examines the functions of lol on two levels: the level of discourse organization and the level of social interaction.