Source: Observing the Facebook statuses and comments of my peers. 3/11/2012 at 8:00 pm.
Relation: An activity that was done during class that involved stating if a speaking tone was possible, inappropriate, or appropriate for a variety of communication technology devices (Texting, YouTube, Facebook, etc.).
Description: When things are said over the internet, they can be taken in ways that the writer did not mean. In order to lighten up the mood, or hint at the tone, people add "hints" to let the reader know that they are joking. These hints include the following: lol, rofl, lmao, lmfao, wtf, ftw, haha, and emoticons. I believe that statuses that use sarcasm as their form of humor need these humor hints in order for people to know they aren't being serious.
Analysis: My experience taught me that, if someone does not know you very well, they perceive things differently than someone who does. When talking to people that I do not normally talk to, I noticed that I use a lot of tone hints in order to lighten up the mood. Without them, people could get offended; however, people could get offended with them too. I have noticed a lot of people making jokingly offensive comments to their friends but they always add some time of hint that they are just being silly. For example, one person said "Madi, you're a bitch! lol ;) " (name is made up). The person replied with another insult and another humor hint as though their insults were playful and somewhat flirty. In class, we had to list if things were possible, inappropriate, or appropriate. Anything is possible to say on the internet but it depends on what your humor hints are to determine if it is appropriate.
