Advertisement
Voices
Kristen Radtke

How many exclamation points are too many?

Illustration of a woman texting while surrounded by chat bubbles and exclamation points
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
By Kristen Radtke
Comic panel with an illustration of an email from a "boss" to an employee
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel of an email with the "send" button prominent at the bottom
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel about with an illustration of hands typing on a keyboard.
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Advertisement
Comic panel of a disheartening text exchange with a potential voter
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel of a woman lying on a couch awake with dread
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel describing increasingly emphatic text responses
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel of an enthusiastic text exchange about voting using all caps and multiple exclamation points
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel of a woman responding to all kinds of text messages with emphatic punctuation and all caps
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel of a typewriter showing an exclamation point typed as an apostrophe over a period
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Advertisement
Comic panel showing how the Latin word "io," meaning "joy," morphed into an exclamation point
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel showing two laptop facing each other with hands typing on each keyboard
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)
Comic panel of a woman typing enthusiastically with exclamation points in the background
(Kristen Radtke / For The Times)

Kristen Radtke is the author of two books, including “Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness.” She is the art director at The Verge. @kristenradtke

More to Read

Opinion VoicesContributors

A cure for the common opinion

Get thought-provoking perspectives with our weekly newsletter.

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Podcasts

  • Podcast logo for Rebuilding LA

    Update: Rebuilding Is Underway On West Poppyfields Drive

    In this episode, we bring you the update on how an Altadena resident and her neighborhood are coming along, plus a re-run of the two-part series we did on the Poppyfields people back in June.

  • Boiling Point S2

    Can Offshore Wind Survive the Trump Administration?

    California once bet big on offshore wind to help power its clean-energy future, but the Trump administration is now paying developers billions to walk away from their projects. As California’s remaining offshore-wind leases hang in the balance, the state is fighting back in court.

  • Crimes of the Times logo

    How A Hillside Strangler Nearly Went Free

    The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.

Advertisement