How to stop accidentally flirting?

[confusednoodle]

Hi! So I think I have a problem. I'm fairly awkward, and I have trouble with having conversations. Typically I just try and be as nice as I can to people, and hope that makes up for it. However, mainly online people seem to think that I'm flirting with them. I really don't mean too! I honestly don't understand flirting for the most part, and whenever I google people mainly say it's about eye contact and laughing at jokes. I'm very bad about eye contact (And on the internet it doesn't really exist), but I do laugh at peoples jokes. I just don't get how else someone's supposed to react to a funny joke? I also tend to use "lol", exclamations points, and smiley faces like ":D" to let people know I'm not angry or upset. I also try to encourage people and compliment them on what they're working on. Basically what I'm asking is, are any of these things considered flirting? If so, what should I do instead of some of these so people don't think I'm flirting with them?

[Revolver_]

Then it isn't your fault, it's the other person's fault for misunderstanding you