When it comes to text messages, punctuation says more than you might think

A research team from the Binghamton University, State University of New York, led by psychologist Celia Klin, has investigated how certain punctuation structures influence the emotional interpretation of text messages. — AFP Relaxnews

Receiving a message from your boss saying "Come and see me” is never reassuring, but when it's written as "Come. See. Me.” the pressure goes up a notch. The tone changes immediately, and it takes on a sense of urgency that's almost authoritarian. Now, an American study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, reveals that the use of extra periods strongly influences the perception of emotions in a text message.

A research team from the Binghamton University, State University of New York, led by psychologist Celia Klin, has investigated how certain punctuation structures influence the emotional interpretation of text messages. In particular, the researchers studied the effect of periods placed between words and the fragmentation of sentences into several distinct text bubbles.