#PositiveVibes - !

By John R. Nocero

 Enough already! Stop! No more! I mean it this time! When did the exclamation point become the new period! Why is it that every sentence has to have an exclamation at the end to emphasize thanking someone for helping you out is a tremendous achievement! I have started to get text from friends that say simply “Let’s go!!!!!!” and I am not really sure why. The new norm as begun to be communication everywhere like it is done on Twitter.

 Baer (2014) says that exclamation points used to be a rare signal of extreme intensity! Now they're everywhere, from news headlines to business emails and text messages!!!!! Thanks to our smartphone-obsessed culture, the exclamatory has been normalized!!!!!!! According to Smith (2015), plenty of us get trigger-happy when it comes to using exclamation points — especially in our writing at work! We do it to express (sometimes genuinely, sometimes not so genuinely) excitement, surprise, or even anger — or to avoid coming off as unenthusiastic or "stone-hearted!”

Smith references Dahl’s work on New York magazine's The Science of Us blog, “The exclamation mark, once reserved for expressing joy or excitement, now simply marks baseline politeness (a fact brilliantly expressed by an Onion article headlined, "Stone-Hearted Ice Witch Forgoes Exclamation Point”), and when we see a text or e-mail that lacks it, we instinctively wonder what's up! This is partly explained, research suggests, by the fact that it's a lot harder to get across tone in written conversation — particularly when it's abbreviated — as compared to vocalized interaction!”

 Is it? Oh wait, is it!!This is an interesting finding, especially from the compliance perspective, because the majority of findings are shared in person and not through e-mail. It is important to be collaborative, open, and tell people what they did right and it is just as important to ensure they know where they need work to be done. You just have to be nice, respectful and assertive when you do it. The most important point is to be respectful. I firmly believe that everyone goes to work to do the best job they can every day. Please teach them and help them improve, but never tear someone down to do it. Always let them save face and maintain their dignity. Intentionally tearing someone down speaks more about you than it does about them! And that is the perfect time to use the exclamation.

 Be nice! Be respectful!

References

Smith, J (2015) “Stop Using

Exclamation Points At Work!” Retrieved May 15, 2017 from https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/stop-using-exclamation-points-at-work-2015-1

Baer (2014) Why Everyone Uses So Many Exclamation Points All The Time! Retrieved May 15, 2017 from https://www.businessinsider.com/exclamation-points-in-grammar-and-communication-2014-6