Yeah, I used to use “LOL” more as a teenager on MSN, etc. At some point it became more exaggerated; people began using it to show genuine laughter or to mock others, and “lol” became a more relaxed acknowledgement of general humour.

Another interesting change is “lmao”. That also used to be capitalised and used to indicate a level of laughter greater than “LOL”, but at some point it became lowercase and very passive aggressive. I almost exclusively see it being used to taunt/mock others, often by Gen Z.