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?

Huge generalisation. XX

. I rarely see this in women of other nationalities, even those who are not native speakers of English.

An element of this may be that some people will be sloppier in their first language than if it was a second one where you're probably thinking about it and don't know what rules can be broken iyswim.

Yes! Anyone who's ever lived in the UK likes to put kisses on their texts! They're not really kissy types IRL so I've always assumed the xxx means "over and out". Koreans put tulips 🌷

I'm an expat also and have noticed this too!

💋💋💋xxxxxxxxx

Me too and I add even more emojis to people I know it will irritate 😁❤😂😈

Life's too short to be annoyed by kisses and small pictures xx

I can't bring myself to ignore capitals, punctuation, or proper grammar in texts. I also hate text-speech - words like "wot" and "4 u".....that's just a no for me.

But kisses? Yep. I add those to certain messages. Not all of the time. And certainly not if I'm annoyed! But generally, the kisses are to denote affection, or warmth, or to help convey a tone. They don't mean literal kisses!

So, for example, my friend and I don't normally add kisses on our messages. But if I were texting them something like "I hope the funeral went OK x" - I would add the kiss. It's like a indication of extra care, or concern. Likewise, if I was saying thanks, I would text something like "Thank you, I really appreciate your help x".

However, with my mum I add kisses on every message because otherwise she'd think there was something wrong. She adds them on all of hers, and she likes to see them. She's the only person who gets kisses on the end of every message I send. It's just a way of signing off.

Racking my brain and I think pretty much all of my friends bar one is similar to me. One adds millions of kisses to every message but she's larger than life and exuberant, and I think that just reflects her personality. Mind you, she still uses punctuation and capitals etc!

I can’t say I’ve seen this much, no one I know does this. In or out of work etc.

I do think the xxx or ‘kisses’ are quite common for Brits. Unsure why, I do quite like them though.

This has been my experience too, agree with everything here.

I've seen it a lot on some of the facebook groups I'm on...not every messenger but certainly a lot.

It seems to be a thing now that even the lady joiner I use puts kisses after her invoice texts.

I rarely add a kiss to my mates - but will to randoms who seem to like it.

I definitely do that but am also a published author so it's not like i cant write. i can - am just lazy when it comes to MN. i also like the freedom it gives me

Do expats not use commas then?

Yes I have noticed on all sorts of social media platforms people posting without using full stops,commas,paragraphs or capital letters. Drives me mad as I find it exhausting to read! I will say it's not just women though.

Yeh, Yep, I agree n stuff I could have disagreed, but it would have looked rude n that xx

Edit: Could of disagreed.

I have a MA in Applied Linguistics. I couldn’t care less about how other people type on social media platforms and I certainly wouldn’t make a judgement of their intelligence based on missing punctuation.

The point of language is to convey a message; not to prove you’re intelligent enough to be deemed worthy of conversing with about trivial topics.

😂

but neither have I.

I think it's just a lack of time rather than anything else. Many people are pushed for time and want to get it down as quickly as poss!

I have noticed this. I think it is linked to a lack of confidence, as previously suggested. I have a friend who was a massive Brexiter, and whenever she made assertions [that seemed pretty spurious to me] she'd follow them with a couple of kisses. It was pretty odd; it felt as if she wanted people to think she was a nice person and was afraid that they wouldn't think so. (As it happens she is a nice person.)

The xx is definitely a UK thing.

I'm from a different European country, but have lived in the UK for many years.

We don't do that in my country.

If someone sends me a message with xx, I now tend to reply with xx as well, as I don't want to seem rude 😂

Is your hometown in Essex? 😂

Yas Queen! 👸👸🏼👸🏿
Rather be a hun and happy than too worried to do or say what makes me cheerful and concern myself that I appear to be less intelligent than those who end texts with a full stop 😂
Good for us xx

Yanbu. I'm also from another country and have noticed this a LOT in texts or posts from certain groups of women in the UK, particularly of a certain generation.

Perhaps grammar and punctuation weren't targeted in the curriculum of those who would have been at school in the 80s-90s.

Isn't it just a typed/messaging version of auto-duckface whenever taking a photo? It is so divorced from actually kissing as to just be a habitual tic.

Lolz