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 Language evolves at break neck speed on the internet; what’s cool one minute is lame by the next. Case in point: “LOL” is dying. A Facebook report claims that LOL is now one of the least popular ways to express laughter on the social network. Why? Probably because of mom. 
 
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 The waning popularity of LOL correlates with aging demographics. In other words, only old people are using LOL these days, presumably because it was popular in the internet’s early days but is now falling out fashion as emoji becomes the universal language of youths. However, variations of “haha” and “hehe” are still the most popular expressions of laughter. 
 
 Poor LOL. 
 
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 The Facebook report fails to consider the ironic use of expressions like LOL or even haha, but the data doesn’t lie. Lots of people on Facebook have abandoned LOL, and those who do use LOL are older. Is this because old people like your mom think it’s still cool or can’t figure out how to find the emoji keyboard or maybe it’s because your mom thinks LOL stands for “lots of love?” 
 
 There are plenty of ways to explain why LOL has fallen out of fashion—but one thing is for sure: LOLers are getting older as emoji takes over. Rest in peace LOL. Long live 😂. 
 
 [Facebook via Gizmodo UK] ||||| CLOSE The "like" button has evolved. Facebook unveiled five animated emojis you can choose instead of just the standard "like", including love, haha, wow, sad and angry. VPC 
 
 Facebook is rolling out Reactions, new emoji to express emotions beyond "like" on the social network. (Photo: Facebook) 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO — Here's something you might love: You don't have to just "like" Facebook posts anymore. 
 
 By popular demand, Facebook is going beyond the ubiquitous thumbs-up button with a new shorthand to express your thoughts and feelings. 
 
 Acknowledging that "like" isn't the right sentiment for every occasion, the giant social network is offering new options. Reactions, five emoting emojis, started rolling out to Facebook's nearly 1.6 billion users around the globe Wednesday. 
 
 With a click of a button, you can choose from new emotions when commenting on a status update. Hold the "like" button on mobile or hover over the like button on desktop and five animated emojis pop up. Tap on love, haha, wow, sad or angry to express your reaction. Posts in News Feed will now show a tally of the reactions — how many loves, how many wows — a post gets. 
 
 Make no mistake: Reactions are not designed to capture the full range of human emotions. No meh or trash, Facebook wants to give people a fast and simple way to express thoughts or feelings in a positive, supportive way, not to create a way to troll friends and others on the giant social network. 
 
 "Not every moment you want to share is happy," CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. "Sometimes you want to share something sad or frustrating. Our community has been asking for a dislike button for years, but not because people want to tell friends they don't like their posts. People want to express empathy and make it comfortable to share a wider range of emotions." 
 
 CLOSE Facebook introduced new ways to express yourself beyond just a "like" button. Jefferson Graham gets reaction to the new Facebook Reactions from consumers. 
 
 Love, says Zuckerberg, is the most popular reaction so far. 
 
 Facebook says it conducted research for more than a year, tapping focus groups and surveys and poring over short one- to three-word comments, emojis or in virtual stickers to determine the emotions people most commonly want to express. 
 
 The winners were the five emojis that translated to cultures around the globe. One emoji, yay, was rejected for not being universal enough. 
 
 "We have been very intentional about really understanding what people are trying to communicate on Facebook right now and how can we make that easier," said Tom Alison, engineering director of News Feed. 
 
 For years, Facebook resisted giving users an alternative to the "like" button, namely a "dislike" button. But the lobbying only intensified as more people used Facebook on mobile devices and clamored for quicker and easier ways to comment. 
 
 One of the emotions Facebook users can now express with an emoji: sadness. (Photo: Facebook) 
 
 Gartner Research analyst Brian Blau says the demand for a "dislike button" reflected frustration with not having more choices beyond like. 
 
 "What these emoji do is give greater granularity in expressing what you are thinking and feeling about something that was posted on Facebook," Blau said. 
 
 Will Facebook eventually give users more emotional bandwidth? 
 
 CLOSE Students from The Quality Life Center in Fort Myers, Fla., bring Facebook's new reactions, Wow, Sad, Haha, Angry and Love to life. Kinfay Moroti/news-press.com 
 
 "We would consider it if it feels like that's going to be something that fulfills a need," Alison said. "We've wanted to make sure the product is lightweight, simple and understandable. The more reactions we add, the more complicated it gets." 
 
 Facebook announced in October that it would begin testing Reactions in Ireland and Spain. The test expanded to other countries such as Chile, the Philippines, Portugal and Colombia. 
 
 Facebook says it made adjustments to the feature based on feedback and will continue to refine the product as it rolls out more widely. 
 
 "This is not the end. Whenever we launch something globally, we learn a lot and we improve the product. We listen to the feedback from everyone using it," Alison said. 
 
 The five emotions on Facebook: Like, love, haha, wow, sad and angry. (Photo: Facebook) 
 
 Emojis are increasingly prevalent in digital culture. Already Facebook users around the globe routinely interact via emojis on Facebook and in other social and messaging apps, particularly in Asia where the expressive icons are a core part of the daily experience on Line and WeChat. 
 
 The Reactions emojis could benefit Facebook, giving the data-driven company even greater insight into what interests users, which in turn could help inform what status updates and advertisements they see. Eventually content producers and publishers will get more granular detail on how people are responding emotionally to posts. 
 
 So how are Facebook users reacting to Reactions? 
 
 Better #FacebookReactions: 
 
 -existential dread 
 
 -seething jealousy 
 
 -mirthless joy 
 
 -endless screaming 
 
 -Wait, this is my list of perfume names — Joseph Scrimshaw (@JosephScrimshaw) February 24, 2016 
 
 #FacebookReactions are amusing. So far the angriest reaction is about bottled water. — Katherine Morrison (@kmorrison) February 24, 2016 
 
 Follow USA TODAY senior technology writer Jessica Guynn @jguynn 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1TFvxEE
– A recent New Yorker essay about online laughter prompted Facebook to crunch data on how people actually express a chuckle in the ether. It's probably not a big surprise to find out that LOL is no longer the phrase of choice, but it might be surprising at just how far the old standby has fallen. In a week's worth of posts in May, just 1.9% of people who expressed laughter did so via LOL. Meanwhile, the undisputed the champion is "haha" (including variations such as "hahaha") at 51.4%, followed by the use of emoji at 33.7%, and "hehe" at 13.3%. Some other takeaways: 15% of people indicated laughter in at least one post or comment Residents of Chicago and New York prefer emoji, while those in San Francisco and Seattle like "haha" More men use "haha" and "hehe," while more women use emoji So what's going on? It's not too complicated. "Only old people are using LOL these days, presumably because it was popular in the internet’s early days but is now falling out fashion as emoji becomes the universal language of youths," observes Adam Clark Estes at Gizmodo. Dig into more charts at Facebook.