The use of modern technology by the newer generation has undoubtedly impacted how we interact with social media platforms. How we communicate entirely changed after introducing acronyms.
If you don’t have proper knowledge about acronyms, a bunch of letters like “KMSL” can leave you thinking if the conversation is still in English. So what does KMSL actually mean?
“KMSL” is abbreviated as “Killing Myself Laughing” on Facebook and other online platforms. KMSL theoretically refers to something extremely funny.
To understand everyday conversations on Facebook and other online platforms, we will discuss plenty of abbreviations and how they’re commonly used.
What Are Acronyms?
The history of acronyms dates back to 1879 when Walter P. Phillips used “acronyms” as a telegraphic code for United Press Association, and now it’s commonly used on every social media platform and in daily conversation.
Acronyms are pronounceable words derived from the initials of compound words. For example, “LLC” is the acronym for “Limited Liability Corporation.” Whereas abbreviations are shorter versions of words like “Corporation,” abbreviated as “Corps.”
Similarly, “Killing Myself Laughing” would be too long to type, so the acronyms took over, and it is now referred to as “KMSL.”
Ever Since people have gotten smartphones in their hands, they are constantly trying to make the conversation as easy as possible. Acronyms are a prime example of how you can convey your message without typing complex or long words. Instead, you can replace them with the initials of the word.
It’s pretty surprising how humans tend to understand words and phrases just from a few letters.
How Did Acronyms Become So Popular?
Gen Z has figured out a way to shorten the time and effort you have to put into your phone to convey messages on social media apps.
While in-person speaking words might not be that difficult, it takes some effort to type on social media, considering some of our typing speeds might be slow.
As people could easily replace words with their initials, it got so much popular that ever since then, the acronyms have been increasing in number.
You Can Create One Yourself
One of the significant reasons why acronyms got so popular is that you can mutually create acronyms for words frequently used between two friends on Facebook in daily conversations.
Without even anyone knowing, you can create your secret language that the relevant person will understand only because of acronyms.
You can easily make a lot of acronyms for your chats with friends and family. All you have to do is teach them once, or mostly they are smart enough to figure out the meaning of specific acronyms themselves.
Frequently Used Acronyms on Facebook
Following are different categories of acronyms that you may come across while using social media or Facebook:
Social Media Related Acronyms
People have started to abbreviate the names of different social media platforms to make it easier for them to be addressed.
To understand modern social media conversations, let’s have a look at some acronyms frequently used in the social media world.
- Facebook – FB
- Instagram – IG
- Linkedin – LI
- Twitter – TW
- Youtube – YT
- Direct Message – DM
- Private Message – PM
- Retweet – RT
Conversational Acronyms
According to the Meta-Research, over 1 million acronyms are used in the literature. Some of the most common acronyms used in our daily conversations include:
- What Are You Doing? – WYD?
- Behind The Scenes – BTS
- For The Win – FTW
- Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt – FUD
- In My Opinion – IMO
- In My Humble Opinion – IMHO
- Age, Sex, Location? – ASL
- Laughed Out Loud – LOL
- Rolling On the Floor Laughing – ROFL
- Laughing My Ass Off – LMAO
- To Be Honest – TBH
- I Don’t Know – IDK
- Let Me Know – LMK
- Fear Of Missing Out – FOMO
- Greatest Of All Time – GOAT
Endnote
Besides all the acronyms listed in this article, thousands of others can be seen across the different platforms.
If you still don’t know about any specific acronym, then don’t be shy to ask the sender about it!
Mastery of acronyms will surely help you understand texts over the internet. Moreover, it’s best to use a caps lock and no spaces or full stops in between acronyms as the proper rule of an abbreviation.
