Media News South Africa

AP Style guide strips the 'internet' of its proper noun status

The AP Stylebook - an influential media style guide that shaped online writing styles the world over - has announced on Twitter that it will no longer refer to the internet as a proper noun, using a lower case I instead.
AP Style guide strips the 'internet' of its proper noun status
© Julian Burgess via Flickr, from Memeburn

The change will come into effect when the 2016 version of the Stylebook launches, and also marks a change in the way the world sees the internet.

As the internet grows, it becomes a more “decentralised”, ubiquitous web of communication and information, Thus referring to it as a proper noun, or a single, defined entity, doesn’t quite make sense.

Oh, and the “web” mentioned earlier will also be referred to as the “web” with a lowercase W...

Continue reading the full article on Memeburn.

About Andy Walker

Camper by day, run-and-gunner by night, Andy is editor at Memeburn and prefers his toast like his coffee -- dark and crunchy. Specialising in spotting the next big Instagram cat star, Andy also dabbles in smartphone and game reviews over on Gearburn.
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