“In what year was the first known use of ‘lol’ recorded on a FidoNet board?” The answer is 1989. The earliest widely documented occurrence of “LOL” meaning “laugh out loud” appeared in a May 1989 FidoNet newsletter.
FidoNet was a worldwide network connecting bulletin-board systems, or BBSs, before the modern web became widely available. Its newsletters and discussion areas helped users exchange technical information, jokes, slang, and abbreviations across different local systems. The 1989 appearance is therefore an important early written record, not necessarily proof that nobody used the abbreviation earlier.
An unverified account by Wayne Pearson claims that he used “LOL” on a Calgary BBS called Viewline in the early-to-mid 1980s. Pearson’s original message was not preserved, so historians generally distinguish that anecdote from the documented 1989 FidoNet evidence.
The abbreviation later spread through Usenet, online services, chatrooms, and instant messaging. It originally suggested genuine audible laughter, but modern usage can also signal amusement, friendliness, irony, or simply soften a message.