Internet slang

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Internet slang, Internet language, or chatroom shorthand, is slang that Internet users have coined and promulgated. Such terms typically originated with the purpose of saving keystrokes, and many people use the same abbreviations in text messages. They are also very commonly used in instant messaging. The terms often appear in lower case, with capitals reserved for emphasis; for example, the pronoun "I" often appears simply as "i". People also use "u" to mean "you," and "r" to mean "are." Also, much of the time people do not use apostrophes or punctuation at all.

Like most jargon, Internet slang aggrandizes authors and readers, causing them to appear to have specialized knowledge of a complex medium. However, there are cases where using Internet slang is considered ridiculous, due to association with the stereotype of the internet n00b.

Some examples of internet slang are: "lol" meaning "laugh out loud", "rofl" meaning "rolling on the floor laughing" , "lmao" meaning "laughing my ass off", "omg" meaning "oh my god", and "omfg" meaning "oh my fuckin' god". There is also "afk" (away from keyboard), "qfe" (quoted for emphasis), "hs" (holy shit), and "wruh" (why are you here?).

Another feature common to Internet communication involves the truncation and morphing of words to forms that users can type more readily, and quickly. When new terms of internet slang are created, it takes time for them to become widely accepted. The small ring of friends using an instant messaging client most of the time is not enough. Web forums are a way to get new terminology out on the net, and accepted and used by a wide range of members of the internet community.