Whether providing cover for your fear of a forward proposition on a dating app (‘You could come back to mine after Dishoom haha’), masking your shame about still listening to nu-metal (‘Still love listening to Freak on a Leash haha’) or making your political opinions more palatable (‘Quite into aspects of Tony Blair’s foreign policy haha’), haha is the internet’s go-to protective shield.
Haha and its close associates (lol,lololol and sometimes ‘bahahahaha’) are used widely across social media platforms and messaging applications. Its most pointed use in the experience of many Londoners will be through online dating chat:
Person 1: What are you up to tonight?
Person 2: Not that much just seeing friends it’s Sarah’s birthday think she wants to go to Spoons haha
Person 1: That sounds great maybe I could join you later on haha
While the ins and outs of online laughter have frequently been discussed, in recent years many have begun to seriously question the requirements of dating chat – something all the more notable with next year marking Tinder’s tenth anniversary.
Many will be well-versed in the demands of asking a series of questions and hoping that the answers go your way (‘Where abouts do you live? Have you been to Rowan’s in Finsbury Park before? We could go this weekend if you’re free haha’).
Many will have been asking these questions for many years and finding them skull-numbing in their formulaic reportativity. And ever-present throughout this all is the safety provided by a haha.
