Bullet points are trending.

They’re good for a lot of things.

You can use them in your resume.

You can use them in your emails.

And you can blog with them but I typically don’t utilize them.

They’re becoming so popular that I think you should be able to add them to your food.

  • Indented bullet point chili

I like the sound of that.

  • Bullet point roasted red potatoes. Yum.
  • Bullet point tomato soup. Meh. I suppose they don’t go well in everything you eat but they don’t look bad in a drop quote.

Bullet points scream for attention.

Look at me.

Read me.

Well, technically-speaking, bullet points are not readable.

From what I can tell, they are used as fillers or to garner attention for sentences and sentence fragments that otherwise would have no Q score whatsoever.

I know I’ve implied that bullet points can have Q scores. I think they can because they’ve become an entertainment product of sorts. People use them sometimes to make their written communication more entertaining and attention-grabbing–which is what Q scores can measure–how appealing and familiar things are.

All bullet points are not created equal

There are bullet points that are solid and round.

There are bullet points that are hollow and round.

And of course, there are bullet points that are not round at all.

Bullet points in the shape of smudges come to mind. They’re just like bullet points in overall line for line appearance, but they’re in the form of a random smudge (great band name) instead of either a solid or hollow round bullet point.

However bullet points look, they all serve to take the place of stringing sentences together to form a paragraph. These days people can’t be bothered with reading a paragraph that contains more than one sentence. I know this. But it doesn’t prevent my putting together a paragraph featuring multiple sentences in a piece I write.

I like to keep things interesting.

Bullet points have a place and time such as in some resumes:

  • Responsible for leading a Multilevel marketing strategy that increased sales 50% quarter over quarter

I think in the instance above I would have used a non-indented em dash (again, great band name, albeit a bit long) rather than a bullet point like so:

–Responsible for leading a Multilevel marketing strategy that increased sales 50% quarter over quarter

Bullet points that yell, ‘Type under me!’

Bullet points seem to proliferate in email. This may be because provided you leave adequate space after a bullet point sentence fragment, the person reading it can easily type their response when replying:

  • Why is it that an expectation has arisen in business circles that the bullet point is the best way to get your (bullet) point across?

Because you can feel equal in stature to the individual using the bullet point in their communication by typing in red underneath.

If you’re like me you use bullet points in place of numbered lists, if only because they are less boring and unpopular.

Finally, and for whatever reason, they remain a must in Microsoft PowerPoint decks. Pretty musty if you ask me.

…

Bullet points are not something you read about every day, I applaud your willingness to see this through to fruition and I wish you all the good fortune and success possible that bullet point use can bring.

  • The end