Liliane Fonseca
Yesterday, I was watching a talk show in which the host said that in his day, laughing sounded like “qua, qua, qua.”
To that his guest responded that in his day, laughs sound (and look) like “LOL.”
I found this comment really pertinent, when it comes to thinking about how different generations express their emotions “Laughs” have undergone radical changes since the days of the “qua quaqua.” I am an avid user of programs like instant messenger. I talk to many people through e-mail. To me, certain letters piled together are simply laughter. For example, when I see “hehe” or “haha” I hear laughter. We are living in the time of the “LOL” (laugh out loud).
Digging deeper. Lovers used to swear their love to each other in secret. There were flowers and love letters. Love letters filled with poetry and metaphors. Ink stained pages of hand written words, rich with language to express the abstractness of love.
Today, people express their love through online emotions. There’s the smiley face and sad face, and every other “face” in between.
Let’s analyze the same situation, as it takes place in two different times.
The first scenario goes like this:
“At a party, a guy, looks at a girl, winks at her, making it clear that he wants to talk to her.”
The second scenario goes like this:
“The guy just finds the girl on MSN, sends her a message, and they start talking.”
In both scenarios, the guy gets the girl. But the manner in which emotions are expressed changes completely.
Today when young people have a problem (especially teenagers), you can be sure that they will express what’s happening through their blog, fotolog, IMstatus, or facebook status.
The internet, and its language is so present in young people’s lives that it’s become a free land in which they express their feelings and relate to each other.
In this online world, there is no reason to feel shy, or fear that people will discover your faults. You can just create an “ideal you,” and everyone believes that it’s in fact “you.” You can even create an “avatar” which literally illustrates the ideal you.
I believe that the creation of online emotions, which can basically express any feeling today, is an attempt at bringing people closer in the online world. It’s an attempt at making online communication less cold and distant. Yet, I wonder how efficient online emotions actually are.
My sister, who is 16, is a real believer in online emotions. I’m certain that if she could, she would use online emotions to speak, even in “face-to-face” interactions!
I was born right before the totalcomputer invasion. I got my first computer at the age of 8. I don’t have a lot of faith in the power of online emotions. Of course, I use the online world, and its “smiley” and “sad” faces. But I still believe in the real face-to-face. I like exchanging glances. I love spontaneity, and the freedom to speak your mind, without having time to think about what you are going to type next. I’m sure my sister would say that this is “old people” speak. Yet if we all communicated in the same way…what would be the fun of that?
