I texted Becca as I went through the subway turnstile: "You won't believe it, but Sex and The City is back! But no Samantha, so you wouldn't like it." I added a grin emoji and tucked my phone in my bag. When I absent-mindedly took it out as I reached my stop, I almost dropped it in shock. For the first time since my dear friend had died five years earlier, she'd written back.
Those three small letters have become the topic of a generational debate that has been dividing the internet in recent months. The conversation started earlier this year across X, Threads, and Reddit when one user suggested: "Millennials use "lol" like STOP at the end of a telegram lol." In the comments millennials quickly defended their favorite acronym. "What of it?" one wrote. "Hold steady lads," another added. "In a culture that has taken everything from you, never let them strip you of your lols."