How exclamation points can help you score a date!

The outfit you wear in your photos, what you write in your bio, even your grammar and punctuation in messages can determine your online dating game. 

It's proven that users who use a period at the end of their statements while communicating digitally are often perceived as less sincere. In a follow-up on the same study, exclamation points are perceived as more sincere. 

What does all this mean for the world of online dating?

Online dating service Zoosk recently reported on the success of opening messages: A message with an exclamation point was 10% more likely to receive a response.

In Match's 2014 "Singles in America" survey, 83% of singles said they judge a person by their grammar. 

Think about it: If you're asked out for coffee and answer "Sure!" rather than "Sure", your potential date will feel you're more into the idea. Certainly no punctuation reads as severe as a period: "Sure."

Comedian and author Sam Greenspan wrote 11 Points Guide to Hooking Up and talked about the importance of grammar and punctuation in online dating conversations. Mashable asked him about the effects of exclamation points.

"The best strategy is using one exclamation point whenever something you write might be interpreted the wrong way without."

"Exclamation points are the most important, but dangerous, form of punctuation for conveying tone," he says, "[In] written communication, especially in dating, we instinctively search for ways to interpret tone. Exclamation points are crucial. The best strategy is using one exclamation point whenever something you write might be interpreted the wrong way without." 

Greenspan believes there is a balance to be struck between the exclamation point and online flirtation. Too much and you'll come off as desperate: 

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

See the difference?

Punctuation has been the closest thing we have to communicate tone, until, of course, emoji.

"I believe one of the main drivers in the ubiquitous rise of emoji is their usefulness in filling in tonal gaps in written communication," says Greenspan. 

And supposedly, people who use emoji get laid more often. So maybe combine that with some generous, balanced exclamation point use!!!!!!!

Too much?

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