Excessive Punctuation Detection

Punctuation is a signal. One exclamation mark shows emphasis. Three show desperation. Platform spam filters count punctuation marks the same way - more repetition means higher spam probability. TextScore catches these patterns before you post.

What Gets Flagged

Any punctuation mark repeated more than once in a row triggers detection. The more repetitions, the higher the penalty.

• "!!" - Mild flag. Common in casual writing but still a spam signal.
• "!!!" - Moderate flag. Clear over-emphasis.
• "!!!!!" - Strong flag. Almost always looks like spam.
• "???" - Moderate flag. Reads as aggressive or clickbaity.
• "..." - Ellipsis is fine. ".........." is not.

Frequency Matters Too

A single "!!" in a long post may not hurt you. But if every sentence ends with multiple punctuation marks, the cumulative score adds up fast. TextScore measures both the intensity (how many repeats) and the frequency (how often they appear).

Mixed punctuation marks carry different weights depending on the combination.

• "?!" - Interrobang. Common in casual writing. Mild flag at most.
• "!?!?" - Alternating marks. Looks spammy. Moderate flag.
• "!!!???" - Cluster of mixed marks. Strong spam signal.
• "~*~" - Decorative punctuation. Associated with spam formatting.
• ">>>" or "<<<" - Arrow-style marks. Often used in promotional content.

Special Characters as Decoration

Using stars, arrows, bullets, or other special characters to decorate text is a spam pattern. Lines like "*** HUGE SALE ***" or ">>> Click Here <<<" are textbook spam formatting. TextScore flags these combinations.

Common Spam Punctuation

These are the punctuation patterns most commonly found in content that platforms filter:

• Sentences ending with 3+ exclamation marks
• Questions with 2+ question marks
• Dollar signs before numbers ("$$$" or "$99!!!")
• Percentage signs used for emphasis ("50% OFF!!!")
• Hashtag flooding (more than 5 hashtags in a single post)
• Emoji clusters used as visual separators

Before and After

Before (Poor)

"OMG!!! You NEED to see this!!! Best deal EVER!!! Don't miss out!!!"

After (Good)

"This is the best deal I've found. Worth checking out if you're in the market."

TextScore counts punctuation violations and weighs them by severity. A single instance of doubled punctuation barely moves your score. Repeated patterns across your text push it into warning territory.

• Good (Green): Clean punctuation. Standard use of periods, commas, and single exclamation or question marks.
• Fair (Yellow): A few instances of repeated or unusual punctuation. Tone down the emphasis.
• Poor (Red): Heavy punctuation abuse. Your content looks like spam to automated filters. Strip the extras and let your words do the work.