As always with translations, there's always the fight between accurate translation and cultural translation (and also 4kids/Crunchyroll/Yen Press "sensitivity" translations, bleh). I am thankful for this translation over the more accurate translation because lol, lmao, and such are barely used at all in American culture now. Anyone using lol in a public forum unironically just seems odd.
The scene is not online, but in person, so online culture means nothing. There are also till a ton of English speaking people who use lol in everyday life. Pictured are people who will use w in real life, excessively, unironically - they are deliberately portrayed as weird and creepy. We need to express that in some way, and the in-person use of lol is not a bad way of doing so. 'haha' is not bad either, as noting it deliberately gives off the same effect.
However, to NOT have anything is not good. It is neither more accurate, nor a more cultural translation. It is just ignoring a deliberate creative decision by the author.
It should be noted that this is a creative decision by the translator, not reflective of the creative decisions of the author and certainly NOT accurate or good cultural translation.
My personal view is the more accurate translation is better. Reaching too far culturally is 'rice balls = donuts' territory. We are reading Japanese media, it is FAR more interesting to begin feeling and learning the nuances. Part of the reason I have learnt Japanese is that the raws have so much more nuance than is possible from most translations.
