Philip B Corbett, standards editor at the New York Times comments on last week’s much-tweeted story that he was to ban the word ‘tweet’.
Corbett says that it isn’t a blanket ban and says “it [‘tweet’] can be used for special effect, or in places where a colloquial tone is appropriate, but should not be used routinely in straight news articles”.
As in the original internal memo, he states:
[E]xcept for special effect, we try to avoid colloquialisms, neologisms and jargon. “Tweet” – as a noun or a verb – is all three. Yet it has appeared 18 times in articles in the past month, in a range of sections.
…
“Tweet” may be acceptable occasionally for special effect. But let’s look for deft, English alternatives: use Twitter, post to or on Twitter, write on Twitter, a Twitter message, a Twitter update. Or, once you’ve established that Twitter is the medium, simply use “say” or “write.”
Also see blogger Steve Buttry’s post on the debate at this link…