It is argued that the decline in punctuation and capitalization on social media, especially among younger generations, is largely due to the iPhone keyboard design. “By hiding commas and periods behind the symbols switch, the iPhone keyboard encourages the most grammar-challenging people to be lazy and omit punctuation,” Rita El Khoury of Android Authority writes. She continues:
Experts will tell you that it only takes an extra tap to add a period (double-tap the space bar) or a comma (switch to letter layout and tap comma), but it’s an extra tap. When you’re replying or messaging fast, the annoying pause as the keyboard switches to symbols and then back to letters can be very annoying, especially if you do this multiple times within a message. I hate pausing in the middle of a sentence, so I might as well sacrifice a comma on the altar of speed.
Ultimately, the real issue is the popularity of iPhones over Android phones among Gen Z buyers, especially in the United States, a market with a huge online presence and influence. Moreover, most smartphone users tend to stick with the default apps on their phones, so they end up using the iPhone’s default keyboard without bothering to look for better alternatives. And it’s the same keyboard that encourages laziness rather than making punctuation easier to type.
It is quite easy to blame the iPhone for abolishing the period and the comma, but one can say that both are largely responsible for the disappearance of capital letters. However, trends are cyclical, and if the cassette player can make a comeback, the comma can too. Perhaps in a year or two, writing like a five-year-old will be outdated and using good grammar will come back into fashion.
