I've noticed that I tend to avoid the period/full stop when writing instant messages like that. Like, exclamation marks and question marks go just fine, but a period will make it sound very weird in my head when it's in an IM conversation, for some reason. I will even start a new sentence on a new line without a period after the last sentence if I need to write multiple sentences in one message (which doesn't happen that often though).
Oh man, I didn’t know other people did this, I invented it in my friend group. Never in proper writing, only texting. To me it conveys a tone that other punctuation can’t replicate. For example:
Ok.. - Ok, but I’m unsure about this
Ok - Ok
Ok… - Ok, but I’m sad or resigned about this, and I want you to address that
Ok…? - I don’t know where you’re going with this, explain yourself
Even writing “Ok, but I’m unsure about this” isn’t the same, because that calls more attention to your hesitation. If you don’t use “..”, your only alternative is to spend a minute basically doing translation work between inflected English and monotone English, maybe arriving at something like “Ok, I’ll try”, or more likely just give up and communicate in lower fidelity.
I feel like (so, of course, this is how I use instant messaging) periods at the end of a message suggest the logical conclusion of a thought, and are far too formal to use with every message. Email, sure, but not chat. (I do use question marks and capitalize in general, but periods in particular seem strange to me.)
This one is a bit more reasonable (to me at least). It seems to be an internet/texting convention that messages ending with a period are more formal/serious or potentially angry/irritated, whereas messages without a period are lighter/more fun. As an example:
“Have you taken the dog out?”
“Yes”
Vs
“Have you taken the dog out?”
“Yes.”
The second comes across as the responder being potentially irritated at the asker. I believe that this comes down to the amount of effort required to type the reply; adding a period is making the explicit choice to do so, whereas not doing so is the default. This isn’t the case for sentences in the middle of a multi-sentence answer, since a separator is needed anyways. But I find myself not adding a period even at the end of multi-sentence messages, and I automatically read any message ending with a period with a different tone than one which does not.
Maybe I’m just nuts though, that’s always an option. But with text being such a relatively limited medium for conveying emotion in short messages, I think this is a reasonable solution.
Apparently, I'm strange in this (meaning HackerNews) group of people. I've been an avid instant messenger for several years; and, while I consistently try to have correct, or at least almost-correct punctuation in my instant messages, as well as a love for the semi-colon, I tend to finish my instant messages without a period.
I finish posts on message boards like this one with them; but, when I'm using an IM client, then period follows this article's alleged usage of meaning irritation or annoyance. Notably, this only applies to the last sentence in a message and only when the messages are between 0 and 1 paragraph. I haven't analyzed my own chat-style writing beyond a single paragraph, so I have no comment around anything beyond that.
The people I know tend to be the same, as far as I know, ending sentences without a period. We do often end them with things other than a period, though, like exclamation points, question marks or a few other group-specific symbols, such as emoticons, to make sure that it's known the message is ended and it is of a particular tone. The period is just one of those tones and that tone is almost always perceived as a sharp one, unless it is one of the group that has a rabid dedication to the period-is-end-of-sentence style.
All of that said, the people I tend to speak with also tend to have strong pet-peeves around they're/their/there, than/then and other commonly misrepresented words. They also tend to demand that people spell out whole words rather than using r for are and u for you, unless you're being ironic. Punctuation is very important to us, we have just redefined the terminating mark.
I guess that is how I know I am getting old? I have never even heard of anyone thinking a sentence ending in a period is anything but normal. And I actually detest the use of exclamation points. They are almost always unnecessary. And I probably read too much into them, as opposed to others doing the same on periods.
It is interesting though. Looking back at chat history. If I am not writing multiple sentences, and even sometimes when I am, I tend to leave off the last period.
I think emoji reactions to messages, especially in off topic channels, are totally reasonable. And certain ones (+1, -1, 100, etc.) are OK for technical discussions. But don't feel people should be adding faces into the actual content of on topic work messages. But, the actual context in those conversations should be clear, and make them unnecessary.
One thing that actually drives me nuts is when people will keep their messages short. Write 5-10 words of a thought out, hit enter, and keep on going. You end up getting 7 notifications in quick succession, and none of it is complete. Please, just write out your entire though out as one singular cohesive message.
I frequently hit return rather than typing a period. However, I feel that's not really good practice, as I often see myself sending a lot of small messages which could probably be better summarised with a couple well thought out sentences.
I read it completely differently. I see a sentence without punctuation as disinterested, as if they don't even bother to complete the sentence. Maybe acceptable in an IM, but not an email.
There's a common, but far from universal perception that ending a single-sentence text message with a period conveys an angry or serious tone. That may extend to multiple short sentences in some contexts; I'm uncertain.
I would argue it's not needed for the last sentence. In fact, when people are freed from convention in contexts like chat programs, they often drop unneeded bits like trailing periods
It's definitely something that I notice with instant messages. Periods are used between sentences in a multi-sentence message, but if you put them at the end, you might seem upset -- especially if the sentence is short.
This is probably because:
- IMs are already formatted to show the end of each message (chat bubble, etc), so a period communicates extra 'finality' beyond what is necessary;
- Sentence fragments are normal and expected, but seem weird with a period at the end;
- Using formality in an informal setting can create a sense of emotional distance;
- IM cues like these are likely established and spread by people who have mostly used IM in non-professional settings, with friends and significant others, and those norms are then brought with them when interpreting the IMs they receive in a professional setting. If you never communicated with your significant other via text message, you've probably never needed to express as many subtle emotional signals into your texts, and so just treat them like emails. But if you have, then you eventually pick up how powerful punctuation can be at communicating emotion in that medium.
If a one-word response would seem more negative or less enthusiastic with a period, then I posit it was not carrying a positive or enthusiastic message in the first place. If I want someone to interpret a one-word answer as enthusiastic, I'll put a bloody exclamation point on it.
And you get back to the real core of my point (though I could probably have been clearer).
> Sounds pretty reasonable to me for SMS/WhatsApp texting, and definitely something I agree with since ending a one-word statement with a period when you otherwise never use periods is clearly a statement no matter how small.
I punctuate fastidiously. In my un-blinded, anecdotal data, my interlocutors do not interpret my punctuation negatively. Sometimes they say my vocabulary makes it seem like I'm too big for my britches ... and that I use archaic idioms.
From the WaPo article you linked, regarding a period at the end of a sentence:
> that's an indication that the text message period has taken on a life of its own. It is no longer just the correct way to end a sentence. It's an act of psychological warfare against your friends.
It's so bizarre that people perceive some nefarious intent because a sentence ends with a period.
Periods generally end sentences, and if that sentence convenes a thought, they do conclude the thought. I consider that to be the default mode of conversation, regardless of whether it's chat or mail or whatever. I like it when people take the effort to bring their thoughts to a conclusion rather than flooding me with cheap stream-of-consciousness-style conversation (cheap for them, not for me), and I tend to treat others the same way I want to be treated.
If I want to explicitly leave a thought open for continuation, especially in chat style communication, I place three periods at the end of a sentence. I consider that an invitation to the reader's mind to conclude the sentence. So it's either one period or three of them for me, but none at all just feels wrong.
>This reminds me of the younger generation sometimes perceiving messages ending in a period as rude.
I've never seen any comments regarding a single period, but I've seen comments (and sometimes agree with them) regarding the perceived rudeness when ending messages in ellipses.
"Good job..." seems almost sarcastic compared to "Good job.".
And I’m left wondering if they just typed an extra period or whether they’re trailing off...
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