From the thread "Master's thesis on functions of the Internet buzzword 'hehe'"

A master's thesis entitled "Research on functions of 'hehe'" became a much discussed topic online last week. The paper's author is Wang Kui, who graduated from East China Normal University in 2012. The paper used the discipline of social linguistics to examine the use of "hehe" in an interactive context. Netizens were amazed that the author could turn the frequently used word into a 38,000-word master's dissertation.

The paper, which is archived on baidu.com, has been viewed over 34,000 times and received more than 200 comments. Many netizens think writing such a thesis was a waste of the time and money spent on the academic degree.

However, Li Mingjie, the mentor of the student author thinks the paper makes a meaningful contribution to modern linguistics and reflects the development of Internet language.

From jfdaily.com