Why do so many UK women post like this?

[user1477391263]

I'm British but a permanent resident of another country, which I moved to 25 years ago before social media was really a thing; my social media has people from all over the world, but the majority are not British.

I've come to realize that Facebook groups (etc.) that have British posters, such as local FB groups from my hometown, sound really different in the way people (or women, anyway) post!

There's a certain style, and it's very noticeable. It consists of using no punctuation apart from commas, no capitals, and putting kisses (x, or xx, or even xxx..... etc.) on the end of almost every post - sometimes on the end of every sentence. I rarely see this in women of other nationalities, even those who are not native speakers of English. Not every UK woman posts like this, for sure, but a lot of them do!

When did this become a thing? The oddest thing is that most of the women I know who post like this are perfectly intelligent people! I've had to sort of consciously train myself to (when reading a UK woman's online writing) mentally separate the posting style and the woman's assumed level of intelligence/education, because I know from experience that even well-read women with a lot of education quite often post like this.

I know it doesn't really...."matter," but I'm just a bit puzzled about when and why this became such a trend and why it seems to be so UK-specific. Is it about appearing friendly?

It always astounds me when people say "all" you see on SM is XYZ. It's all very personal to you and the people you know and your interests that "they" know by black magic 😆

I don't think there's anyone on my FB who uses kisses as punctuation.

When people were complaining Schofield was filing up their feeds, I was barely seeing anything. When West Ham won their cup OTOH...

I do use x at the end of a text sometimes. It basically means I know I should say something kind/reassuring but I don't know what to put!

Op doesn't even bother to disguise the fact she is looking for a chance to badmouth the u.k and u.k women!

I think it's the people you know. It's not something I've noticed.

I agree. I see this regularly on Facebook and it’s almost always a reflection of education (these are usually people I went to school with or have worked with so I know their education level).

I'm from quite a poor area and it's prolific on the local Facebook group. I'll get flamed for saying it but it IS usually connected to level of education or social class. You're far more likely to see it on a post from someone asking about delays to benefits, asking for advice about a violent partner or needing clothes/ supplies because money is tight and they have a new baby. I've also seen it on the relationship thread here- usually from someone in a messy, toxic relationship most would have run away from ages ago.

Yep this is me! I occasionally make myself add them as I like my friends and don't want to seem rude but I cringe so much inside. It seems such a random thing to do!

Even more random from complete strangers, like on the school what's app group at the beginning of the year. Why are you sending kisses to 30+ people you've never met!

Most peculiar!

Rubbish thread xx

xxx

I've seen people do it and I assume they feel as though they're having a real time conversation with someone, such as messenger or text messages.

Then it just becomes habit to end every message or sometimes every line with 'xx' which infuriates me!

I think some people (older, less internet savvy) genuinely do think they're using some sort of instant messaging platform, though you usually then see them poking for a response after only a few minutes. Others, I am afraid the snob in me (and that is most of me) assumes they are a bit stupid really.

But I've been on the interwebs a very long time, when all this was open forums and IRC was young and healthy, and the geeks were all powerful and would /kickban hard for netiquette and protocol breaches. For you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.

I have two or three friends who put kisses at the end of every WhatsApp message. They're reasonably intelligent people, too. I don't get it.

I don't put full stops at the end of massages any more as I was told that it makes them look abrupt. As there's no facial expression, body language or tone of voice to clarify a message, I'm happy to make sure that I don't risk a misunderstanding for the sake of a missing full stop. Otherwise I punctuate normally.

😂😂😂

Poor spelling,punctuation and using kisses is NOT a sign of lack of education.

I am dyslexic I really struggle with spelling and punctuation but don't worry HUN I'm a bright woman xxx

I don't put full stops at the end of massages

Ooops! Or even at the end of messages.

In informal messages with friends is it any different to kisses in a birthday card or is it only uneducated people who do that too?

Aside from the (1) people who are simply rushing or being being friendly as pp said, there are other categories too who do this, it seems to be the

(2) ladies who lunch crowd and then also the

(3) “academic” ones who think they’re superior, yes superior, by forgoing capital letters because they’re enlightened and all letters are equal. 😅

The kisses at the end mean, respectively,

“friendly to all! I include everyone in my networking, you never know when it will pay off”,

“we’re in the ‘in’ club, isn’t it nice!”,

and “I know you agree with me and if you don’t, you soon will”.

xxx

The difference is that the kisses are after every line of the messaging conversation, however mundane the conversation. So every speech bubble has a couple of kisses on the end. That's nothing like the same situation as kisses in a birthday card.

I just don't get it..

😂

I have one person like this on fb. I should just unfriend her but there's a vague personal link that might make it awkward. Plus it's kind of like rubbernecking an argument or something when you know you should turn away.

She posts long streams of consciousness with no punctuation, lots of 'huns' lots of 'wiv' etc and tagging 25 people.

It's quite entertaining until you see a rant about her ex when all her kids are on Facebook and will read it.

She also posts lots of 'I'm a strong woman, if you don't like it then fuck off' memes which are excruciating.

As I say, I should bin her.
She's the only one though, I'm glad there's not more. There were some more distant relatives but I deleted them all and told them I don't have Facebook anymore.

Oh and I don’t think it’s just UK women. Lots of them here in the USA as well! I think it is really the sort of person not where they’re from.

Sometimes the lack of punctuation is due to people speaking into their phones rather than typing I am doing that now and there is no punctuation and I can't be bothered to go back and correct it

I've seen a couple of posters on here either use a "x" or a comma in place of a fullstop. But literally 2 people out of how many posts that are from uk women? What are the groups about? I think you've found a tiny subset of women who write like they are 10, this isn't a general thing.

I like it, i'm not in the UK but I think it's cute.

Xxxxxxx 😂

Are they from China by any chance? I've noticed this with the Chinese people I know. I've never asked them what it means but from the context it seems to be a sign of being friendly/warm/grateful.

Very few groups you can use that energy to slag off without retribution, the UK is fair game I think. But it says more about the slagger off than anything though imo.

Goodness knows what he'd have made of xxx

Very strange.

Isn't it true that in other countries they don't use x for a kiss? I think even in America they don't use it and don't understand what it means when Brits put a series of xxxxx. I know in other languages like Spanish they just write the word kisses rather then putting an x