Whether or not you believe acronyms are an acceptable form of speech, some people might use them habitually or instinctively even for business communications. Of course, they don’t have much place in this context, but habits are hard to break. To address this issue, one innovative thinker has created a tool that can help determine if the acronym “LOL” is sincere or not.

Curious? Read on to learn more about this tool and why we think it’s pretty neat.

This Device Puts a Stop to Phony LOLs

The phrase “laughing out loud” often means nothing, something which inspired Brian Moore to build a device that can detect when the LOL is not what it appears to be. It’s supposed to mean that something is eliciting an outburst of laughter, but oftentimes, it’s used to either lighten conversations or to fill space in a conversation. This device can actually detect if someone LOLed before sending the message: the LOL Verifier.

We’ll let him explain it for himself:

I made this thing called LOL Verifier: a device that only lets you type lol if you’ve actually laughed out loud pic.twitter.com/Gsc63yGEm0

u2014 Brian Moore (@lanewinfield) January 3, 2023

Basically, Moore built the device to filter out LOLs that the user did not laugh out loud at before typing, replacing it instead with a different form of appreciative approval. He plans to release the code to the public, despite it requiring at least 20 minutes of training before it can actually detect anything with accuracy. In other words, you have to laugh in front of your computer for 20 minutes so it can figure out your speech patterns.

Why Is This a Good Idea?

Basically, it keeps people honest, but in a different sense, it exposes the gap between what we feel and what we write. It’s remarkably easy to send an LOL with little-to-no thought, thus killing any sincerity in the conversation. This isn’t something that really applies to the business world, but it does showcase how the right technology can be used to find solutions to specific problems.

For example, imagine a solution that can keep problematic emails out of your employees’ inboxes, freeing them from the possibility of wasting time on potentially dangerous messages. This is exactly what spam filtering does, and antivirus works the same way by keeping threats out of your network, thus keeping it safe. Content filtering, as well, can be a preventative tool to keep your employees from visiting time-wasting or risky websites.

If any of the above sound like helpful solutions for your business, call 415 IT today at (415) 295-4898.