Binghamton University Researchers Reveal the Texting ‘Mistake’ That Makes You Look Heartless
Do you ever really struggle with not doing something that you've been doing for your entire life?
I remember when I first heard the new, modern rule about not adding two spaces following a period when typing and felt like something spidery had wrapped its hand around my throat and squeezed.
I grew up in the era where we had a room with rows and rows of typewriters and we had to practice typing for excruciatingly long amounts of time. I can't tell you the name of the teacher who taught typing at my high school but I can tell you that she was a stickler and put the fear of God in our souls if we dared to not add two spaces following a period when typing.
We were terrified of our teacher because we already hated typing class but if someone dared to defy her formatting rules, they would be kept after school for an entire WEEK to spend a few hours typing until she was satisfied that they would not break her rules.
I am proud to say that I finally broke my fear of my typing teacher somehow tracking me down as an adult and giving me grief for breaking her rule and I no longer add two spaces after a period. But, I do end my texts with a period. And apparently, that makes me insincere and geriatric. I can't even keep up anymore.
Researchers at Binghamton University researched texting habits and what they had to say has left punctuation followers trampled on: if you end your text to someone with a period, the receiver thinks you're cold and insincere.
For instance, if someone told you that they loved the movie they saw in the theater over the weekend and you texted back, 'I'm glad you liked it." YOU would come across as insincere thanks to that one tiny dot at the end of your text.
If you want the person reading your text to feel like you care, leave the period off. And, if you really want them to think that you care about what they have to say, use an exclamation point. BU researchers say people who use exclamation points are seen as more caring.
A whole new drawer has been opened in our anxiety dresser. Do people really think we're insincere when we use a period in our text message replies? This is a tricky situation. We don't want people to think we don't care but has everyone forgotten about proper punctuation?