[Air-L] copyediting question: capitalize www?

[Amara D. Angelica]

The 2011 AP Stylebook recommends "Internet" and "Web" ("World Wide Web" in
antiquated and not included in the Stylebook). The rationale is that these
are proper names of entities, rather than generic technologies; Web becomes
lower case in "website," a generic technology. 

-----------------------------
Amara D. Angelica
Editor, KurzweilAI News
kurzweilai.net


-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan Sterne, Dr.
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 2:51 AM
To: <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
Subject: Re: [Air-L] copyediting question: capitalize www?

Hi Everyone,

I'm starting to get lots of replies, which I appreciate, and I'm happy to
hear more people weigh in, but I'll take the opportunity to explain my
thinking on "internet."  Early in their histories, most media are
capitalized by journalists (eg., "Telegraph" or "Phonograph") but this usage
generally falls away after some time.  I am one of those people who believe
that the internet is best thought of as one more of a series of
communication technologies that are important in our lives (indeed one of
the arguments of the book I'm copyediting effectively de-exceptionalizes the
internet).

Since I don't capitalize "phonograph" or "television" or "satellite", it
seems strange to capitalize "internet" which is not really a new medium
anymore.

OTOH, if there is another Really Good Reason to capitalize "internet," I
would love to hear it.

Best,
--Jonathan


On 2011-11-01, at 5:46 AM, Sue Malta wrote:

As part of the team that publishes the "International Journal of Emerging
Techologies and Society" (iJETS), I would ALWAYS opt for a capital for
Internet and the World Wide Web....

Cheers

Sue Malta



P
...............................................
Sue Malta
Editor / Managing Editor
International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society (iJETS)
Swinburne University of Technology
John Street, Hawthorn, VIC 3122
Email: ijets at swin.edu.au<mailto:ijets at swin.edu.au>
Or: smalta at groupwise.swin.edu.au<mailto:smalta at groupwise.swin.edu.au>
www.swin.edu.au/ijets<http://www.swin.edu.au/ijets>

>>> "Jonathan Sterne, Dr."
<jonathan.sterne at mcgill.ca<mailto:jonathan.sterne at mcgill.ca>> 01/11/11 8:32
PM >>>
Hi Everyone,

Please excuse any repetition if this has been answered recently. I know that
people are coming around to not capitalizing the word "internet" (this is my
preference too). But what about "world wide web"?

Best,
--J
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