You surely ask the same question as everyone. Shall we punctuate before emoticons? Or after emoticons? Or not at all? The topic is discussed in social media, web forums, emailing workshops every now and then. But one hardly gets a reasonable or complex answer. Well, here it comes. The solution is shockingly simple:

 

How Shall We Punctuate With Emoticons?

In this study, you will learn the following:

(1) What is a pictogram and how it differs from an emoticon

(2) When it is natural to avoid using the period at the end of a common text and what is the impact of it on texts with emoticons, and

(3) How to use the period, exclamation mark and question mark with texts that include emoticons.

 

Pictograms and Emoticons – Do You Know The Difference?

Pictograms are pictorial symbols (ideograms) that express words, statements or even emotions with help of images, not texts: ? (house),  (I am smiling/laughing, it´s funny etc.), ? (thumbs up, success, a great idea, OK, well done etc.) and many others.

Emoticons (emoji, smileys) are such pictograms that express emotions. In other words: ?, ?, ? are not emoticons in the strict sense of the word.

PICTOGRAMS (examples)	EMOTICONS (a segment of  pictograms)

 

There are several contexts in which pictograms are used in written communication. While majority can be found in SMS and social media messages/chats, you can find them also in email subject lines and SM statuses:

(1) the pictogram replaces a word: You are such a ?, aren’t you?
(2) the pictogram adds emotional information to the message and makes it noticeable to the recipient/reader: I have failed again. ?
(3) the pictogram works as an illustration that complements a word or phrase in the message: Nature? is the art of god.
(4) the pictogram works as an illustration that complements the whole message: ⏳Time-limited offer! ⏳

Emoticons and Punctuation Marks – Why Do We Use Them?

Emoticons and punctuation marks have something in common. Within the text, they function as indicators. But at the same time, they differ substantially. 

Punctuation marks help to add extra information about the writer´s position in relation to the content of his/her written message, grafically. In this, they are similar to emoticons. But, they are able to indicate/express only a limited range of such positions and reflect them. (declarative x interrogative x imperative x exclamatory etc.). At the same time, they bring in grammatical (syntactic) information, e. g. about where the sentence ends. 

On the contrary, emoticons are not used as indicators to bring in grammatical information. How come? Well, they can be placed in various positions of the sentence: in the middle of a phrase or a sentence, behind the sentence, sometimes even in front of the sentence. The main purpose of emoticons is not to parcellate the block of text, but to express a wide range of additional information about how the writer feels or what he thinks (love, anger, fury, sadness, anxiety, laugh, sarcasm, shyness etc.).

The conclusion is clear: Emoticons are not meant to substitute punctuation. Take an example: Without punctuation marks, it would not be clear whether (for example) a written statement „Really ?“ is a question, or a declarative sentence.

You need to consider the following standards of using the punctuation marks:

 

Punctuation with Emoticons: 4 Golden Rules You Need to Master

Many articles about emoticons simply come to a conclusion there are no rules for texts with emoticons. Well, they are wrong.

Here is how such rules can be easily derived from what are the standard rules for punctuation in various types of texts without emoticons.

It is important to differentiate these types of texts: (1) Headlines, (2) Captions, (3) E-mail subject lines, (4) Running texts, (5) Social media statuses and posts.

 

Emoticons in headlines

Headlines are where we do not use periods (or full stops if you like). If the headline is one sentence, you leave it without the period (or you add „!“ or „?“). With more sentences in the headline, you treat its last sentence that way: 

France unveils crackdown on protesters
France unveils crackdown on protesters. Opposition fights back
My boss almost fired me! Here is what happened next

Ask yourself whether there is any reason why headlines with pictograms (including emoticons) should look any different, punctuation-wise. No, there is not:

France unveils crackdown on protesters ✊
France unveils crackdown on protesters.✊ Opposition fights back
My boss almost fired me! ? Here is what happened next ?

 

Emoticons in captions

Also, there is no period after a caption (unless it appears on the same line with a legend). The period may be omitted from the end of a short legend that resembles a caption. Nevertheless, if a legend consists of two or more sentences, it must have sentence-style punctuation.

It would be very rare (and mostly odd) to use an emoticon with a caption, though.

 

Emoticons in subject lines

Subject lines do for emails what headlines do for articles. Hence, the rules are the same:

Xmas Offer – Free Gift with Every Order ? (illustrates the whole message)
Xmas Offer – Free Gift with Every Order! ?(illustrates the whole message with exclamation mark)
Xmas Offer – Free Gift ? with Every Order! (illustrates a word inside the message)
? Xmas Offer – Free Gift with Every Order ?(two-sided illustration of the whole message)

 

Emoticons in running texts

Sentences in running texts are ended up with either a period, an exclamation mark, or a question mark (or combination of the latter two). So, if you want to add an emoticon (or another pictogram as an illustration of the whole message), it should take the position after such a mark, not of it: Compare a running text of a FB status with a running text in an SMS:

Facebook Status	SMS/Chat
Ready to get a taste of the future?! ? Check out the tech on show at CES 2019! And some of the top brands are available through us! ?	Good morning baby. ? I love you with all of my heart. I cant‘ wait for you to be by my side. ?

 

 

Emoticons in texts of social media statuses and posts

Ask yourself: Are these texts closer to standard running texts (product blurbs, letters, descriptions etc.), or is their nature closer to headlines or captions (like we can feel it with subject lines)?

Here, it would be fair to decide on a case-by-case basis. Some of the statuses are clearly examples of a running text, while others tend to function as headlines to what is displayed below them (image, video).

Ready for the Four Golden Rules?

 

Summary

Before you read the rules, look at my detailed summary. Here are the punctuation rules for texts without pictograms:

Texts without pictograms

TYPE OF TEXT / MARK	PERIOD	EXCLAMATION MARK	QUESTION MARK
Caption (no pictogram)	(no period) Opening hours	(rare)	(rare)
Headline (1 sentence) (no pictogram)	(no period) France unveils crackdown on protesters	Another shocking loss at Wimbledon!	Does THIS reveal The Walking Dead return for Rick Grimes?
Headline (2 or more sentences) (no pictogram)	(no period after the last sentence) France unveils crackdown on protesters. Opposition fights back	Red hot mamma! Helen Flanagan sizzles in lacy lingerie shoot	I’m A Celebrity 2018 location: Where is I’m A Celebrity filmed? Can you visit the jungle?
Subject line (no pictogram)	(no period) Free Gift with Every Order	Free Gift with Every Order!	Ready to win 100.000 €?
Running text (no pictogram)	(period is a must) This position contributes to the company’s success and inspiring your team to make us one of the most engaging brands in social media. The social marketing manager is a leader versed in the commercial business to help us grow our fan engagement.	As a company our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As an employer, we empower our own people to achieve more and make a difference in the world. Join us and be one who empowers billions!	This book offers an ideal checklist for those who are starting their emergency or disaster plan for themselves their family or organization. Do you have the ultimate checklist for preparation?

 

Analogically, here are the rules for texts with pictograms (unless the pictogram is used to replace a word):

Texts with pictograms

TYPE OF TEXT / MARK	PERIOD	EXCLAMATION MARK	QUESTION MARK
Caption (with pictogram)	(rare) Opening hours ?	(rare)	(rare)
Headline (1 sentence) (with pictogram)	(no period) France unveils crackdown on protesters ✋	Another shocking loss at Wimbledon! ?	Does THIS reveal The Walking Dead return for Rick Grimes? ?
Headline (2 or more sentences) (with pictogram)	(no period after the last sentence) France unveils crackdown on protesters.✋Opposition fights back ✊	Red hot mamma! Helen Flanagan sizzles in lacy lingerie shoot ?	I’m A Celebrity 2018 location: Where is I’m A Celebrity filmed? Can you visit the jungle? ?
Subject line (with pictogram)	(no period) Free Gift with Every Order ?	Free Gift with Every Order! ?	Ready to win 100.000 €? ?
Running text (with pictogram)	(period is a must) This position contributes to the company’s success and inspiring your team to make us one of the most engaging brands in social media. The social marketing manager is a leader versed in the commercial business to help us grow our fan engagement. ?	As a company our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As an employer, we empower our own people to achieve more and make a difference in the world. Join us and be one who empowers billions! ?	This book offers an ideal checklist for those who are starting their emergency or disaster plan for themselves their family or organization. Do you have the ultimate checklist for preparation? ✔

 

Four Golden Rules

(1) Make sure you understand the rules for when it is standard to avoid the period (full stop) at the end of a sentence.

(2) In multi-sentence messages, make sure you know if your emoticon shall complement the whole message (and shall be paced at the end), or only a part of it (and shall be placed after a specific sentence).

(3) If you punctuate with a question mark or exclamation mark, place emoticons AFTER the mark.

(4) If you place the emoticon after the mark (!, ?, .), make sure you place a gap/space between the mark and emoticon.

 

 

Objections Regarding Emoticons in SMS and chats

Some may object that one-sentence messages in SMS and chat communication are sent without the period, with these messages being far from headlines or captions. These opinions claim that if such texts are complemented with emoticons, emoticons shall be placed where the period should normally stand: You should have known that ?

Well, that’s not how a standard sentence shall look like, is it? In fact, this objection tries to set up a general „no-period“ rule face to face to a careless, simplified way of typing sentences (i.e. typing without periods). The problem is that this way of writing is NOT typical for all (or even most) SMS/chat users, and can be interpreted only as substandard preference or „careless style“, similar to other non-standard features like ain’t, ya etc. 

 

Objections Regarding Punctuation Replacement 

Also, some claim that emoticons are right to replace punctuation marks as they have their origin in these marks.

Well, smileys are certainly not created from marks that close a sentence (., !, ?). If you look at emojis in their primitive form, none of them is composed of the period as the first „sign“. The same for a question mark. Most of them start with a colon (:) or a semi-colon (;), which are not marks that close the sentence.

Hence, this objection cannot be accepted, either. The idea of [We lost. > We lost : ( > We lost ? ] as a model that illustrates how the period got replaced with an emoticon, is simply wrong.