Do you ever find it difficult to articulate certain feelings, meanings, or tones in written communication? Ever had an email, text, or tweet completely misinterpreted?

It's not your fault! Nuances like sarcasm, certitude, and irony can be difficult to convey because of the gap between our expression in verbal language versus written language.

For centuries, authors and typographers developed new punctuation marks to help bridge the gap. But as the English language evolved, many of these marks were deemed extraneous and unorthodox, unable to find a permanent place in our writing.

Today, email, text messaging, and social media are the primary means of communication for most. In fact, texting is the most used form of communication for American adults under 50 (Gallup). What’s more, there are 3.7 billion email users worldwide who send and receive about 269 billion emails per day (Radicatti Group), and over 2.8 billion active social media users (Tracx). As citizens of the technology era, there is an undeniable need for optimal clarity in our writing.

Progressive Punctuation is a movement focused on effective written communication. By increasing awareness of unused punctuation marks, we hope to begin a discussion about the present and future states of our writing, and eventually integrate the marks into our language, ending misunderstandings and misinterpretations once and for all.