End Your Texts With a Period? Don't
Now think about this. You know how we're all doing away with punctuation o n our texts? Well, a new study says that that very thing is what now stands in for the visual cues we used to get in face-to-face conversation. ‘Textisms’ convey meaning in absence of spoken conversation, says newswise.com. Emoticons, irregular spellings and exclamation points in text messages aren’t sloppy or a sign that written language is going down the tubes — these “textisms” help convey meaning and intent in the absence of spoken conversation, according to newly published research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. “In contrast with face-to-face conversation, texters can’t rely on extra-linguistic cues such as tone of voice and pauses, or non-linguistic cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures,” says Binghamton University Professor of Psychology Celia Klin. “In a spoken conversation, the cues aren’t simply add-ons to our words; they convey criti...