Tag Archives: philip b corbett

More from NY Times on writing, not Tweeting, on Twitter

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.”

Full post at this link…

Also see blogger Steve Buttry’s post on the debate at this link…