Study shows why ending text message in a period could be a bad idea

Texting has allowed people to communicate across the world in a fast and easy way, but unfortunately this form of communication can lead to confusion. A new study conducted by researchers led by Binghamton University's Celia Klin reveals that ending texts with a period could be bad news

According to research, ending a text message in a period could cause the receiver to believe the message is insincere. In the study participants read exchanges in which the response did or did not end with a period and the researchers found texts that ended with a period were rated as less sincere than those that did not. However, when they conducted this study using handwritten notes, no such difference was found.

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"Texting is lacking many of the social cues used in actual face-to-face conversations. When speaking, people easily convey social and emotional information with eye gaze, facial expressions, tone of voice, pauses, and so on," Klin said in a statement. "People obviously can't use these mechanisms when they are texting. Thus, it makes sense that texters rely on what they have available to them — emoticons, deliberate misspellings that mimic speech sounds and, according to our data, punctuation."

The study concluded that "punctuation is one cue used by senders, and understood by receivers, to convey pragmatic and social information." So think twice before you end that text in a period.

Read the study here.

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