*By Bridgette Webb*
Exclamation points may not have the effect you intend!
Years of overuse have stripped the punctuation mark of its meaning, turning it into an emotional catchall that could suggest anything from actual excitement and friendliness to reassurance and anger.
The ambiguity is stressing many out, and has major implications for coherent communication in the digital age, according to Katie Bindley, a reporter for the The Wall Street Journal.
"We are having conversations now that would otherwise be spoken taking place on text or email," said Bindley in an interview Tuesday on Cheddar. "With that you lose the ability to read facial expressions and tone of voice, so people are overcompensating for that."
And it's not only exclamation marks that are open to debate.
A 2016 [study](9https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/873/study-punctuation-in-text-messages-helps-replace-cues-found-in-face-to-face) of 126 undergraduates by Binghamton University found that ending sentences with periods in a text was perceived as abrupt and insincere.
"Over text your often having these very quick back and forth, that mirrors spoken conversations," said Bindley. "We know on some level that over text that the addition of a period can really feel mean."
Though the punctuation debate is likely to continue to fill countless Slack channels and text message threads, Bindley advises people to use punctuation that makes sense to them.
"If you are naturally a bubbly person, I think its fine to use more than someone that's maybe not so bubbly," she said. "It really comes down to personal preference and your own comfort level."
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjIwODk=).
While people have been spending more time on their phones throughout the pandemic, a new report shows they were also spending more money as well. A review from Sensor Tower on the global app ecosystem this year found that the app economy will see record consumer spending in 2021, up nearly 20% from 2020. Sensor Tower director of sales and financial institutions Anthony Bartolacci joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to break down the report.
The future of gambling in Florida recently suffered a major setback after a federal appeals court rejected a request from the state and the Seminole Tribe to allow online sports betting in the state. Now, the tribe has been forced to stop taking bets on its Hard Rock sportsbook app. ESPN gaming writer David Purdum joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what this could mean for the future of sports betting in Florida.
Web3 software startup Thirdweb has raised $5 million in a funding round, coming from a group of high-profile investors, including Gary Vaynerchuk and Mark Cuban. Thirdweb says it is paving the way for the revolution surrounding the new iteration of the internet known as web3, by offering users free tools to build their own web3 projects. Thirdweb's co-founders Steven Bartlett and Furqan Rydhan join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Decentralized talent network Braintrust recently closed an atypical equity deal that involved investors buying $100 million in Braintrust tokens, the company's cryptocurrency. Braintrust's talent network is built on blockchain technology, which the company says allows it to be owned and built by users, instead of a centrally-controlled corporation. Braintrust users can also earn tokens for their contributions to the network and its growth. Braintrust co-founder Adam Jackson joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Time magazine has unveiled SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk as Person of the Year for 2021. Jeffrey Kluger, editor at large for Time, told Cheddar that Musk's impact on so many facets of forward-looking industries like crypto, solar power, electric vehicles, and especially his work on space travel were the reasons behind the selection. "On balance, Musk is performing on so many levels and in so many venues that it was hard not to consider him our Person of the Year," he said. Kluger also noted that the choice is based upon the influence the subject has had, whether good or bad and is not a judgment on its own.
The recent verdicts of the Kyle Rittenhouse and Ahmaud Arbery murder trials have put a spotlight on the country's justice system. Experts have pointed to the explicit racial undertones in the high-profile trials, as well as the increased levels of stress that may be felt by communities of color because of the prevalence of these trials. Kailee Scales, CEO of Pencils of Promise and former first managing director of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Gold Medal ski racer Bode Miller and John Emery, CEO of Alpine-X, discuss the need to make snowsports more affordable and how the new facility in Virginia aims to diversify the sport to urban areas.
Carlos Munoz, Head of Asset Manager Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Engagement at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, discusses how 'The Equity Collective' is helping to diversify the financial services industry and what the initiative means for racial equity.
