You use full-stops
Yes, it’s the proper way to end a sentence, but that dot may make you seem insincere. That’s what researchers at Binghamton University found when they showed study participants a series a short exchanges framed as either texts or handwritten notes. The message was an invite, followed by a one-word response: Sure, Okay, Yeah, or Yup—shown with a full-stop and without. In text messages, the responses that ended with a full-stop were rated as less sincere than those with no punctuation. The effect wasn’t the same in handwritten notes. In a follow-up study that hasn’t yet been published, researchers found that a text response with an exclamation mark may make your message seem more sincere than one that ends in nothing (!).
You don’t spell check
Typos and incorrect grammar are the biggest turn-offs for single women and men, according to a Match.com survey. You know what else singles—and probably everyone else on the planet—also find annoying: responding with short answers, like “k” and “cool.” Just a tiny bit more effort might go a long way, or at least get a second date.
You say sorry via text
Here’s the thing with that: You’re not actually saying sorry. You’re not facing the person you wronged and looking them in the eye when you ask forgiveness. And they’re not getting the chance to see that you really feel bad. MIT social scientist Sheryl Turkle told Tech Insider: “A face-to-face apology is such a classic place where we learn empathy,” she said. “If you’re apologising to me, I soften because I get to see that you’re genuinely upset—you get to see that I have compassion for you. But if you type ‘I’m sorry’ and hit send, nothing happens.” Texting an apology is not tragic, but you both get more out of it if you do it face to face.