Nerd alert. I just read Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, and now I know why my teens made fun of me for using punctuation in texts.
I also learned that typography has a tone of voice, punctuation can be ironic and periods can be passive aggressive.
New technologies (like the internet or social media) has changed the written language in so many ways. But “technology” isn’t limited to the last 30 years. Did you know once upon a time, the telephone was new technology? I learned that answering the telephone (“Hello?”) changed the way society greeted each other in everyday life.
Back to my social gaffe of using punctuation in texts. It’s a generational thing. GenXers and older generations see texts as an extension of written communication. No so for the younger crowd. In fact, written communication rules don’t have to apply to social posts either. As someone in the PR and marketing industry whose tasks involve lots of writing, it’s hard NOT to apply formal grammar rules to all types of written communication.
One Kansas Girl 