MANILA, Philippines – How many times have you typed “LOL” in an online conversation without actually, you know, laughing out loud or at least letting out a mild chuckle? LOL is more of a mere tone lightener now, isn’t it?

The device inventor, Brian Moore, believes that shouldn’t be the case. Moore says on his website, “The LOL Verifier is a “device that sits between your keyboard and your computer and only lets you type ‘lol’ if you’ve truly laughed out loud.” It is designed to bring “authenticity to the least authentic place: the internet.”

Vice, who was among the first to report the gadget, talked to Moore, who told them, “The deflation of the LOL, as it were, was a realization when I started talking with friends. LOL does not say anything anymore. It might as well be punctuation.”

“The person that receives [the LOL] knows that I have truly laughed out loud, just like our internet forefathers intended it to be,” Moore told Vice. “I think they’re happy to see that.”

The LOL Verifier adds to Moore’s inventions that serve as humorous commentary on technology and our relationship with it. His other inventions include the Veriforever, plaques that commemorate being verified on Twitter; the Blockedchain, an NFT that can only be minted by people blocked on Twitter; USDTea, a stablecoin backed by cans of AriZona-brand iced tea; and Thoughts and Prayers, a game that “controls guns through a game,” a commentary on the phrase “thoughts and prayers” used when expressing condolences or sympathy in shooting incidents. – Rappler.com