Misunderstanding messages

I must admit I met many people who were hurt when I send them text (SMS) shortcuts. 

I have an overly-sensitive friend who was offended when she send me a funny story and I replied LOL. She was supposed to be a tech savvy so I did not get her unfounded anger. All the while she thought LOL was the shortcut of ULOL (fool, in Filipino). She thought I was calling her a fool.

Reminds me also of a story I read somewhere that a lady sends her friend whose mother just died this text message- “I’m so sorry to hear about your mother passing away. LOL. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” She thought LOL means "Lots of Love."

What's my point?

The point is people are doing this shortened messages to keep up with the required (limit) word count in all our mobile networks and even in Twitter. The fact is most of the social networking sites have limited characters to send. That means we have to be intelligent enough to interpret or decode some of the shortcuts that are added everyday.

The point is this is the time for us to upgrade ourselves with technology. Imagine if you are left behind. People are now twittering everywhere and texting everyone. If you are lagging behind, you are out of this world. What would people say when you are a manager or a tier above the rest and you don't know what people are talking about? You are giving a wrong picture of your company. Unless you are stuck in a government office.

I heard that AP and Merriam-Webster are now recognising these shortcuts. LOL (laugh out loud), IMO (in my opinion), BFF (best friend forever), OMG (oh my God) are some of the words now in the dictionary.

When I ask my friend if I could borrow his laptop, he replied- BIKK. Guess what it means.

TTYL.

(Pic from youthministrytips.com)