How do you e-laugh? If you prefer the good old fashioned “lol” you might want to look away...

According to a newly released study titled The Not-So-Universal Language of Laughter by Facebook, “lol”, the once popular acronym for laugh out loud, is the least used form of expressing chuckles online.

The social network analysed posts and comments in America which showed common signs of laughter in the last week of May, including “haha”, “hehe”, emoji and “lol”.

It found only 1.9 percent of users opted for “lol” and their average age is 29-years-old and over.

The most common laugh is “haha” (including variants such as haha, hahaha, haahhhaa), followed by various emoji and “hehe”.

It also tested for differences in gender and found that women prefer to use emoji (unfortunately, the study didn't specify which) while men prefer longer forms of “hehe”.

The average number of letters making up e-laughter is four (haha, or hehe), but six letters are also common. 

Images: Facebook, Emoji