I actually think you’re right about this, but I think there’s something deeper going on.

I used to add “lol” to almost everything I wrote. I still do it. A lot.

For a long time, I thought it was just how I communicated. A habit. Something that made my writing feel less serious or less rigid.

But I started noticing a pattern.

Whenever I feel uncomfortable saying something directly, I’m much more likely to add “lol”.

It doesn’t matter how serious the conversation is. I can be saying something I genuinely mean, something I’ve thought about carefully, and somehow there will be a “lol” sitting at the end of the sentence.

And I realised that, for me, it’s not really about avoiding responsibility.

It’s about being scared of the other person’s reaction.

“Lol” softens the statement.

It makes it less confrontational.

It gives me somewhere to hide if the person doesn’t like what I said.

It’s almost like saying:

“I mean this, but please don’t be angry with me for meaning it.”

And honestly, I think a lot of people do this without even realising it.

Sometimes the little “lol” isn’t there because something is funny.

It’s there because you’re uncomfortable.

You’re trying to make the conversation safer.

You’re trying to soften yourself.

You’re trying to make sure the other person knows you’re not being “too serious”.

For me, I’ve realised that the situations where I use “lol” the most are often the situations where I’m the most uncomfortable.

So now whenever I catch myself doing it, I sometimes stop and ask:

“Why do I feel like I need to soften this?”

Because maybe the “lol” isn’t the point.

Maybe the discomfort underneath it is.