I Think I Succeeded In Keeping the Title of This Post to 140 Characters

May 29, 2009 | Posted by: Melissa Chadwick

As any language lover would do, I recently started following @APStylebook on Twitter to see what they have to say on the latest usage info (and hopefully some juicy controversies). As an aside for those who want to know, the tweeter, Colleen Newvine, answered the most common question: Web site remains two words and e-mail keeps the hyphen.

But then I started to think, what does the @APStylebook think about Twitter talk? Is it destroying the high standards of language usage AP is trying to uphold? Communications is an evolving social phenomenon, so is Twitter leading to a downward spiral in quality for those who like to call themselves purists? As people try to squeeze thoughts into 140 characters, will language suffer on a more fundamental level?

These are questions that anyone could ask about language change over time, especially when it comes to the impact of new and emerging communications technologies. But I thought I'd go to the source and ask @APStylebook myself directly, "Given the continual social evolution of language, what do you think the impact of Twitter is on AP style/usage?" I haven't heard back yet but I thought I would check out what some others thought on this topic...

• The first criticism when it comes to Twitter's impact on language is the emerging vocabulary spurred on by its existence. Gawker has a nice post "Twitter's Evil Plot to Destroy the English Language" that calls Twitter lingo "ahistorically vile." This may be going a bit far, but I wonder if Webster's will make any official Twitter-related additions this year. I don't think "twisticuffs" will make the list.

• The second issue is what this change in communications is actually doing to our brains. Nicholas Carr posted a nice article last year in The Atlantic, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", that discusses that although the Net opens up a world of information it also makes us think differently. He states, "My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles." Twitter takes this a step further, especially when you start adding in multimedia. Will I start thinking and communicating in my every day life in 140 characters?

Let me know what you think about what Twitter is doing to language. If you want to keep it short: @mchadwick2, medium: respond to this blog, long: email me at chadwick@merrittgrp.com. I'll let you know if/what the @APStylebook has to say...