First post!
Exclamation mark added for user excitement, although I started writing without deciding what I'm going to write about. But since we're on the subject of exclamation marks, I might as well start there. Not a hugely controversial stance, but I contend they don't have a place in advertising.
Maybe it's a little extreme to say they don't have a place at all, but they're used so often without proper consideration that we as an industry (and I'm using that broadly, all the way down to handmade signs) have devalued their original purpose.
I told a writer the other day that they should use an exclamation mark as if it cost a million dollars each time. Kind of makes you think about what's important. And in all honesty, most things we have to say just aren't that important.
Hey Facebook fans!
Assuming you did this to get my attention, but I'm already reading it so you had me at "Hey."
New and Improved!
First of all, I'm hoping if it's new that the newness would be an improvement. Second, if you believe I'm going to think the news is big enough, you don't have to yell it.
Find out more!
If I'm interested enough to wonder about the details, I'll find the link to get them. It's probably huge and red anyway.
You get the point. And hopefully you agree. Most working writers do already get this, but a lot of new writers come out of school with !'s blazin'.
Let's all just stop, ok?
One more thing: I do like exclamation points in passwords where they're hidden from human eyes. But before you go hacking into all my accounts, know that I don't always use them. Cool? Cool.