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A case for using punctuation in Slack

blog.mitchjlee.com

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Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#91

Post by [deleted] »

iamdbtoo wrote: post #68
soggybutter wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree about ending periods. I always read those messages as being irritated or overly firm. Potentially worse, though, are people who have a habit of abusing ellipses (...) in weird places. My boss does this in virtually every sentence, sometimes multiple times, and it always comes off like he can't believe you'd say something so stupid

I find this odd because, to me, attributing malice because of the presence of a period is something you do in your own mind. You don't know the emotional state of the person who sent it, so you think of the worst possible outcome, but both are equally likely in the moment. You're just as free to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[deleted]

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#92

Post by wtetzner »

iamatworknow wrote: post #22

I've spent my whole life using punctuation and full sentences when typing. Does it make me seem cold? Maybe, but it'd take more conscious effort for me to change it at this point, which sorta defeats the purpose of some commenters here claiming that it would increase communication speed, at least for me. As far as reading what others write, I really don't care, and find it sort of bizarre that anyone would.

> As far as reading what others write, I really don't care, and find it sort of bizarre that anyone would.

The main one that trips me up is when people use acronyms I'm not familiar with. Then I try to Google for them, but sometimes it's hard to find, or ambiguous.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#93

Post by mixmastamyk »

RandallBrown wrote: post #4
saagarjha wrote: post #2

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.)

I feel like periods mark the end of a sentence. So I use them all the time, even in text messages. I've had people get actually angry with me for doing it.

Angry? "Eff Off" buddy.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#94

Post by bigwavedave »

comeonseriously wrote: post #32
motohagiography wrote: post #23

There is a cargo-cult tech management trend where people use low-effort, sloppy messages and even rudeness as a status signal. I get that the simplest things are the important ones, and wall of text details are usually prevarication, but Slack isn't Tinder. Like project managers think they're channelling Bezos with "?" messages. I can see how some people interpret "stupid" as "powerful," when that's their experience…

Fortunately, I don't work for a manager who would send me just a "?", but if I did, it would go ignored. I think it would tickle me if they followed up with "?!".

Anytime my boss has sent me a '?' with no context, I've always responded with a '?' of my own. Context has always been forthcoming afterwards.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#95

Post by ajmurmann »

adjkant wrote: post #41

The message beyond the HN title actually has potential. However, the author focuses in some odd places for me. As far as punctuation, ending periods actually have negative emotion in text vernacular now for younger audiences and should almost never be used in 1-1 messaging. Exclamation points, commas, and question marks, great! For abbreviations, it's simply know your audience. You should use them when everyone in th…

Your mention of messages ending in a period and this topic in general really makes me recommend Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch. It's a book by a linguist about the evolution of language on the internet.

It does a great job at not only showing how this evolution happened, especially around communicating emotions and things like sarcasm, but also at describing the different cohorts who started using the internet at different times and under different circumstances.

It actually has changed how I write on slack. I'm now for example more deliberate about omitting or including periods, break up what before would have been a long, email-like message into smaller messages.

It also made me aware that ellipses have different meaning for different age groups

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#96

Post by iamdbtoo »

musingsole wrote: post #90
iamdbtoo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this odd because, to me, attributing malice because of the presence of a period is something you do in your own mind. You don't know the emotional state of the person who sent it, so you think of the worst possible outcome, but both are equally likely in the moment. You're just as free to give them the benefit of the doubt.

It's something people do in their own minds because experience generally proves out most people only use a period in a single statement message if they're emphasizing firmness. Those who do use the period and don't mean firmness are a minority and are generally demonstrating they aren't accustomed to chatting in text (or potentially have always been talking from a position of authority, so no one's mentioned how they…

I don't agree that putting a period in casual textual communication is inherently hostile. I also don't agree that those who do are just simply unaware of the chaos they are causing.

At the end, though, you're still making a judgement about someone with very little information and you have a choice not to do that.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#97

Post by lucisferre »

bigwavedave wrote: post #94
comeonseriously wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fortunately, I don't work for a manager who would send me just a "?", but if I did, it would go ignored. I think it would tickle me if they followed up with "?!".

Anytime my boss has sent me a '?' with no context, I've always responded with a '?' of my own. Context has always been forthcoming afterwards.

And they keep doing it?

?

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#98

Post by oytis »

Jtsummers wrote: post #60
swimfar wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you explain this more because it's completely foreign to me. For me a period is the end of a sentence. It has nothing to do with ending the message I'm trying to get across. Is this a cultural or generational or professional field difference? I'd never heard of the idea that a period would be too formal in any context.

It made more sense when I followed some other links in this discussion. Read this: Hey. Or this exchange: Statement: We got the tickets for tonight! Response: Yay. It comes off as very flat or dry. Unenthused. A plain "Yay" with no punctuation would be better here. I wonder if this is the context that we're missing and others aren't providing, because I almost always use punctuation, including periods, in my messages…

IMO, it looks dry, because an exclamation mark would be more appropriate. If you just omit the punctuation, it can be interpreted as if you omitted the "!", but with the full stop you explicitly say that you don't mean "Yay!".

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#99

Post by minieggs »

Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #58

As someone of the younger generation who grew up always using mostly proper punctuation over texts, and avoided abbreviations for common terms this hits home. I'm 28 for reference, and I get VERY different vibes from those younger than me who join slack, and those older (40+ or so). The difference in meaning for different punctuation for these crowds is SO evident, I feel like I'm always playing translator for even t…

re: ellipsis

`,,,` have been a funny, casual alternative I've seen from and accidently seemed to have picked up from younger folk.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#100

Post by rhn_mk1 »

wtetzner wrote: post #92
iamatworknow wrote: post #22

I've spent my whole life using punctuation and full sentences when typing. Does it make me seem cold? Maybe, but it'd take more conscious effort for me to change it at this point, which sorta defeats the purpose of some commenters here claiming that it would increase communication speed, at least for me. As far as reading what others write, I really don't care, and find it sort of bizarre that anyone would.

> As far as reading what others write, I really don't care, and find it sort of bizarre that anyone would. The main one that trips me up is when people use acronyms I'm not familiar with. Then I try to Google for them, but sometimes it's hard to find, or ambiguous.

Acronyms are similar to slang/jargon in that they are understandable only to a specific audience, and may have a confusing meaning for someone unfamiliar.

Which makes me wonder if the author of the article used the noun "ask" deliberately, and whether it simply means "question".

Using that word out of carelessness in an article about the clarity of communication, with a mention of non-native speakers would be ironic.

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