Phone Etiquette

I am also someone who has trouble using text speak. I think its because I can't get my head around what it means, let alone use it myself!

I guess the thing that stands out for me in this thread is consider your audience and different audiences are comfortable with and need different things. 

I use texting to meet up with people or for short messsages, but I struggle a but with reading / writing / understanding some textspeak. I am not bothered by others doing it, though: I get why people use it. Just be prepared that I may ask to clarify. 

Most of the time, I write things out in full - if texting, may leave out thes, ands and so on for simplification.   

I have an old friend, my age who uses it on her facebook page, and writes in all lower case letters, no or very little punctuation, and she comes across as being very uneducated, which is not the case.  It also makes her seem a bit learning impaired which is also not the case.  I don't know why she doesn't see this.

A lot of people I know do this; not textspeak but the lowercase letters and very little punctuation. Or some of them put full stops between words rather than a space. It's seen as a minimalist/trendy/artistic thing to do. At least, that's how they view it. It's quite the opposite from my father who insists on using only capitals whilst typing because it 'draws attention'. (I think he just needs to wear his glasses more often.) 

A lot of people I know do this; not textspeak but the lowercase letters and very little punctuation. Or some of them put full stops between words rather than a space. It's seen as a minimalist/trendy/artistic thing to do. At least, that's how they view it. It's quite the opposite from my father who insists on using only capitals whilst typing because it 'draws attention'. (I think he just needs to wear his glasses more often.) 

My hubby does the lowercase and no punctuation thing.  It has nothing to do with being trendy or artistic.  He's just lazy as hell.

I sometimes leave out punctuation and don't bother to change to upper case because it takes extra time and the other person will understand me anyway.

When I'm texting someone I'm usually in a hurry and I just want to get my point across as quickly as possible.

I only make short texts. If I can't get my point across in a few sentences, I'll call. I just can't type texts that quickly, so it becomes quicker and easier to talk.

I don't understand using a period instead of a space though. It takes the same amount of time to type.

A lot of people I know do this; not textspeak but the lowercase letters and very little punctuation.  It's seen as a minimalist/trendy/artistic thing to do.

Interesting.  My friend is not minimalist, trendy or artistic though (just middle-aged and nerdy) so it just comes across as dim.

I text in all lower-case for the same reasons as sweetpeach - it's just quicker. I do, however, always use proper punctuation. Yes, I've been known to use a semicolon in a text message. 

I text in all lower-case for the same reasons as sweetpeach - it's just quicker. I do, however, always use proper punctuation. Yes, I've been known to use a semicolon in a text message. 

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about texts--I use whatever is easiest and quickest (lower case) as well.  I'm referring to Facebook updates and comments.

I do, however, always use proper punctuation. Yes, I've been known to use a semicolon in a text message. 

Ha ha, me too! 

Yes, I've been known to use a semicolon in a text message. 

Guilty!!

Ditto! I love semi-colons 

I <3 punctuation! 

I text in all lower-case for the same reasons as sweetpeach - it's just quicker. I do, however, always use proper punctuation. Yes, I've been known to use a semicolon in a text message. 

I am a punctuation-freak. I would totally use a semi-colon (where appropriate) in a text message.  I also tend to write out full sentences.  This habit drives DH crazy because it means he usually has to scroll down to read the entire thing.

I may have posted this before:
'Let's eat Grandma!' or 'Let's eat, Grandma!' Punctuation saves lives!

I'm not a fan of text messages, as a rule. Communication-wise, I'd much rather have a conversation.

That said, they are very useful for the "I'm running late", "did you pick up the milk" sort of things. And I agree that they're useful for times when you need to communicate privately.

Txtspeak really annoys me. I always try and write out full words, use capitalization (unless I'm in a big hurry) and punctuation. It's one thing if you're typing via a number-pad or something, but most phones have some sort of keyboard and I don't think it's too hard to type a few extra characters for clarity (and to avoid looking dim).

I did commit the cardinal sin of ending a relationship via text message...however, it was the end to a conversation that we'd been having for over a week, so it wasn't just an out of the blue "things aren't working", and I used the text message for privacy. I still feel kind of guilty, though.