Last week I got a tip that the AP Stylebook would be changing its style for “Web site” to “website.” I knew the news would be big but didn’t expect people to be so vocal on Twitter and in the blogosphere about their thoughts on the change. Some disagreed with the change. Others thought it couldn’t come soon enough. I always thought that “Web site” was an antiquated way of writing it, so I’m glad I can now write it as “website.”
One week later, people are still talking about the change.
Wanting to find out what other journalists thought about the Stylebook’s decision, I followed the buzz on Twitter and talked to New York Times columnist David Pogue and others to hear their thoughts:
“When the AP Stylebook announced via Twitter that it was changing the style for “Web site” to “website,” some users let out shouts of praise: ‘Finally!‘ ‘Yes!!!‘ ‘Yeeha!‘
“The reactions aren’t surprising, given how many people have asked the AP to change the style from two words to one word, arguing that “Web site” is an antiquated way of writing it.
“The change, which was formally announced at the American Copy Editors Society conference Friday afternoon, is effective Saturday and will appear in the 2010 Stylebook, which is slated to come out next month.
” ‘We decided to make the change because ‘website’ is increasingly common,’ said Sally Jacobsen, deputy managing editor for projects at the AP and one of three Stylebook editors. ‘We also had invited readers and users of the Stylebook to offer us some suggestions for a new social media guide that we’re including in the 2010 Stylebook, and we got a very good response and a large number of people who favored ‘website’ as one word.’ ”
Here are some other Poynter Online stories I’ve written throughout the past month or so:
—Chat Replay: How Can I Maintain Relationships With Hiring Managers (Moderated the chat)
—Public Has New Way to Report, Track Bay Area News Errors
—Percentage of Minorities is Higher Than Last Time Newsrooms Were This Size
—NPR Ombudsman: Journalists Should Look Harder for Female Sources
—Wolff: Newspapers Will Never Understand the Web
—USA Today iPad App Maximizes Familiarity, Leisurely Discovery
—VoiceofSanDiego.org Editor Edits Nearly All Stories by Hand
—How to Use Interactive Time Lines in Breaking News & Ongoing Stories
—NPR Reporters Buy Toxic Asset, Become Stakeholders to Explain Financial Crisis
Word on the Street 