Social Media vs. social media: A Confession

Some things in our lives are simply too big for lower case letters.

We should write that “my mom is great,” but just can’t help but afford her the respect of that capital M. “The President has arrived” isn’t correct, but it just feels right.

For many years, I have awarded social media an honor it seemed to deserve. Anytime I wrote the phrase, I always used capital Ss and Ms. I don’t know when or where I picked up the habit, it was just ALWAYS something that I did. And it felt right.

Eventually, I came to realize that it was just me. But I always tell my clients, mistakes are bad; inconsistency worse. I decided that sticking with this bad habit—with complete and utter consistency—could make up for the mistake it surely must have seemed to most.

I write today to admit my failure. The AP has not changed its style guide, the New Yorker has not adopted my spelling convention, there will be no dictionary updates on my behalf. While I still believe in consistency and staying true to oneself, I have finally decided that this is a habit I must finally kick.

I write this post for two reasons:

1) It helps to codify my decision. Change is hard, but all good things must come to an end [insert favorite bible/Shakespeare/Tony Robbins quote].

2) It absolves me of any past (mis)spellings you may encounter. I write a lot. I have been working my way backwards, editing them out (each instance more painful than the last). But the internet is huge and I’m sure I have missed a bunch. So societal or otherwise, I feel a level of absolution.

Social Media is dead; long live social media.