The poor old exclamation mark seems to be a bit 'Billy No Mates', as young Jamie might put it. Certainly the old BAA style guide we were updating was unequivocal: 'Do not use! It looks like you are shouting.' The BBC's digital guide was hardly more enthusiastic: 'Exclamation marks should not be used for emphasis or to ‘strengthen’ jokes – they are meaningless.' Shouting? Meaningless? Ouch!
Why do people dislike the exclamation mark so much? Simply, we suspect, because it is overused, and indiscriminately at that. Exclamation marks make writing look more exciting! More lively! More fun! And if you want to heighten the effect, why, just use three!!! A half-bright teenager could do it. Which is no doubt why many who do end up looking like half-bright teenagers, and why so many corporate guides, erring very sensibly on the side of caution, advise against doing it at all.
One thing is for sure: better to avoid it altogether than to use it badly. But that doesn't mean it can't be used properly. We use exclamation marks - occasionally. Sometimes for emphasis, BBC misgivings notwithstanding. If something is genuinely exciting and you want to drive the point home, an exclamation mark might be just the job. The fact that it's so often used in an attempt to inject life into the mediocre doesn't mean it has no place marking out the genuinely distinctive.
It can also be used for humour, to signal ironic intent, to 'take the hex off' something that might otherwise cause offense. It can be a way of ending a potentially risky sentence with a clear sign not to take offense (or think I'm fool enough to be in deadly earnest about this). Would the conclusion of the first paragraph of this piece have been better with a full stop?
Ultimately, as BAA endorsed for their updated guide, rather than an outright ban:
"Use very sparingly, only when genuinely called for, and never more than one."
Alan