XD LOLz: A History of Laughter in Text
Laughing online is as ancient as the internet itself. Back before emoji and meme-ified faces, we had to get wild with our typed expressions.
"XD" showed its face in the mid 90s as a way to convey amusement. It was like a digital version of crackin' up.
Then came "LOL" - standing for "Laughing Out