I'm relatively young (17), so I can offer some perspective from the teenage side. I definitely think this is one of those issues where it is going to vary greatly with age. This article is very accurate, at least with regards to my experience. Ending a text with a period generally indicates annoyance or frustration with whatever the previous text was (and can sometimes indicate anger, too). It's really a passive aggressive way to do so, however. If I received "Ok." in response to a suggestion or statement that I had just texted, I would immediately assumed that the other person is upset in some way. I would follow up with something like "What? We could do something else if you want" or something similar. "Let's stay in" sounds like a sincere suggestion to me; if I were to disagree I would not hesitate to say it and I would assume you to be open to other suggestions for what to do that night. "Let's stay in." is much more firm, almost like a command. I would expect a lot of resistance to doing something other than staying in, and wouldn't bother suggesting something else unless I was really opposed to the idea of staying in. Exclamation points indicate either sincerity or extreme sarcasm, entirely dependent on context. The question mark still retains its role of forming a question, but, as the article stated, it can make certain statements seem less cocky. It is almost like casting doubt on whatever you just said. "I think I got the highest grade?" Maybe I did, but I am acknowledging that it is possible or even likely I did not. This is all really interesting stuff. It's fascinating how certain punctuation has picked up these connotations. I've never thought about it before, yet it is completely true.
Yes, exactly. I only use periods when my text is longer than one sentence, which is quite rare since these conversations happen mostly in real time. I texted a bit different when my texts were limited to 250 per month. Now that I have unlimited texting, i'd be more inclined to send the two sentences I want to write separately than put it in one text and use punctuation. It's crazy how punctuation actually affects the meaning of the sentence: I'm not mad. I'm not mad... I'm not mad I'm not mad :) These easily range from "everything's fine" to "we're getting in a fight when you get home".
Huh. This is fascinating to me. I'm 31, and I think there is just a disconnect in the way older and younger people communicate. Typically, I use commas and periods in a text just like I would on hubski or other social media sites. That is, I'm not a stickler, but I try to keep it relatively proper. It's never crossed my mind that a period could be in any way misconstrued. Thanks for the insight.