O hai, can have lernin from lolcat? K thx.
So - first post on a new blog, all about writing for the web, and it’s about a (fairly old) internet comedy phenomenon - the Lolcat.
What’s a Lolcat? It’s simply a picture of a cat - usually in an interesting or funny position - with a humorous caption. How funny these captions are is a matter of opinion (personally, I love them). But regardless of the humour, the language used - and how readers interpret it - teaches us some interesting things.
Lolcats depend on the captions being written in the language - as it’s called on I Can Has Cheezburger - Lolcat.
Lolcat depends on child-like misspellings and syntax and grammar to make you wince. What’s interesting about it, though, is that despite this - or perhaps because of it - it’s still very easy to understand. It might take a couple of readings at first, but it’s surprising - for someone as anal about spelling and grammar as me - to see that it’s pretty universally understood.
I can has pichur?
In big part, of course, this is due to the combination of image and text - which gives us lesson 1:
Images put things in context - and context clarifies complicated concepts.
There’s a compromise to be made between images and accessibility, of course, and every image needs appropriate alt text. The image, of course, can help you as a writer to put things in context as well as it will help the reader. Pick something appropriate and think how to write a caption for it which ties everything together.
Plz to bring dikshunry, k thx?
Lolcats transcend international English variations in the most interesting way - they make their own spellings. And this leads us to lesson 2:
When you read, as long as you get the meaning, the spelling doesn’t matter
Controversial, I know. But it’s true. Even putting completely the wrong word (my favourite being the use of pubic instead of public) needn’t be the end of the world if it’s an isolated case. Of course, you completely lose any professional respect you might have if your corporate site is nothing but typos; but for an immediate, dynamic medium like a blog the odd one here and there won’t hurt. Correct them when you see them - but a quick post rapidly responding to something newsworthy can follow the principle of publishing in haste and repenting - or re-typing - at leisure.
Hahahahaha - lols
Finally, the point of Lolcats is that they’re funny, and they’re instantly funny. And as such they’re shared, forwarded, visited time and again, and suckers like me keep going to see if there are any new ones… which gives us our final point, lesson 3:
Entertain, inform, or just plain bribe - but give ‘em what they want, and they’ll keep reading.
A successful website - which gets repeat visits, which gets its users acting as advocates, and which sells a product or spreads information or opinions, or which keeps people reading past the headline - needs to offer the user something. Don’t expect your users to read for hours for little reward. Hit them as soon as they arrive with an easy to see punchline - give them what they want as soon, and as easily, as you can. Gone are the days where site success was measured by length of visit. We live in a more enlightened age, and we know that the measure of a site’s success is entirely dependent on the purpose - and content - of the site.
Invisible summary!
So, is the future writing whole websites in Lolcat? Of course not. The lessons above could be illustrated without “fluffy teim”, but I thougt - for my first proper long article - I’d show I’m at least a little bit down with the kids and up with the zeitgeist.
Next time - buying books on the interweb. What’s that all about then?
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