Introducing a NEW Punctuation Mark for Digital Communications
At Garden Media Group, we approach every single item on our agenda with oodles of excitement.
From the moment we wake until we sleep, we’re laughing, brainstorming, typing like crazy, and working as a team—all with enthusiasm.
If you are a dedicated GROW! Reader, you know firsthand how much we love to show our excitement even on the web. That’s right, exclamation points and emoticons galore! You’ve just got to love it!! We even have an exclamation point in our blog title!
But, what about the times when you’re just pleased and a small smile lurks across your face, but you don’t have enthusiasm exuding out of you.
Enter the Elrey Mark, the newest exclamation mark on the scene. Would you use this new punctuation, made for digital communications in 2013?
What Is It
The Elrey Mark is to be used when you’re excited, but not too excited. It’s that in between level of happiness. In essence, this type of punctuation is meant to exude positivity.
The new Elrey Mark would be perfect for ending emails. Instead of an overly ecstatic “Thanks!,” you’d end with an Elrey.
Advantages
It certainly would innovate and freshen up the world of punctuation. Plus, the creator, Ellen Susan, felt the need to communicate with happiness in the professional world while not sounding like a clique of middle school girls.
The thought behind the Elrey Mark does really make a lot of sense.
As we spent more and more hours communicating on a keyboard to emails and social media, we want to show just how personable we are. Periods seem ho-hum; they have no life!
Add the Elrey Mark: the perfect balance of excitement and reserve in a digitally driven world.
Success Probability
I love the idea of the Elrey Mark, but in practicality, there are a few issues.
First and foremost, logistically the introduction of a new punctuation mark would be difficult, at best. But, we could do a fancy keyboard shortcut to create the Elrey, similar to adding accents now. Eventually, the hope would be to have it incorporated on all keyboards.
Thus far, I haven’t seen a ton of press on the Elrey. For such a large-scale innovation, the Elrey needs to be the talk of the town, or at the very least the press. The more the Elrey is in newspapers, talk shows, social media, and magazines, the more the people will begin to want it and use the new mark.
Public Relations to the Rescue!
Until the Elrey has a PR team behind it, its chances of success are slim. People need to trust and believe in the new punctuation mark before it can be implemented into daily life. The idea’s there, but now it just needs the brand recognition and trust.
Would you use the Elrey? Do you think it could work? Let us know in the comments!
Discover what other trends are going to be hitting the market this year with our 2013 Garden Trends Report below!