Yesterday, @APStylebook made a monumentally attention-grabbing tweet:
Responding to reader input, we are changing Web site to website. This appears on Stylebook Online today and in the 2010 book next month.
Initially I thought I was reading @FakeAPStylebook, the often hilarious satire with the tagline “If you use this, you will get fired.” This was such a major change that I couldn’t believe it was true. I also didn’t realize that this weekend was the annual conference of the American Copy Editors Society, exactly the atmosphere required for such winds of change.
Once word had spread in my newsroom, my heart began to race. I know that’s extremely geeky and weird, but you have to understand my left pinky and ring finger have been programmed to reach the shift and w keys every time I come across “website.” That’s what style is about after all — consistency. I liken it to the beginning of every year where you have to kick yourself until you can automatically type or write in the new year. The major difference is that we’ve all become accustomed to second-guessing ourselves every January as we get used to typing in the new year. “Web site” not “website” has been ingrained in me for the past 10 years!
For many copy editor types like me, it’s not even about the style so much as it’s about resistance. And not resistance in our minds, but in our fingers. To give those nonconformists a little context here, many people were freaking out four or five years ago when “fund-raiser” became “fundraiser.” Now how ridiculous does “fund-raiser” look? Well, it used to be second nature.
I still feel on the fence about this change, but I have to admit “website” has become so colloquial there’s no stopping it. AP-style copy editors have been practically the only ones stopping it for the past several years. Poynter has a pretty good write-up of day-of reactions. I see a lot of resistance, but “website” is growing on me every time I read it. Maybe it’s the conciseness. Maybe it’s the finally-received AP sanction. I’m scaring myself a little here.
I can’t help but wonder, will Internet be “internet” someday soon? I’m already shuddering at the thought.
