The Anatomy of a Tweet: Twitter Gets a Style Guide

By Jenna Wortham

They’re no Strunk and White, but Dom Sagolla and Adam Jackson are aiming to do for Twitter what “The Elements of Style” did for good writing on paper: outline elementary rules of usage, composition and grammar.

140 Characters

The bulk of the book, titled “140 Characters, A Style Guide for the Short Form,” will revolve around eight key lessons from the Twitter universe, such as the importance of simplicity, honesty and humor. The project will also highlight notable figures worth following on Twitter, anecdotes from the community and even examples of the few occasions Twitterers have gone overboard: For example, Mr. Sagolla points to “bathroom tweets,” or messages about bodily functions, as falling into the category of things not to post to Twitter.

“This is a new genre of writing,” said Mr. Sagolla. “A new form of literature, in some ways.”

A portion of the book will also double as a memoir from the perspective of Mr. Sagolla, who was involved in the early stages of development for the tool. Mr. Sagolla, who now works at Adobe Systems as an engineer, is also planning on including a mini-dictionary of Twitter lingo, like “retweet,” the reposting of another Twitterer’s message, or “twoosh,” a message that is exactly 140 characters.

The book came about after Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sagolla met after an informal gathering of iPhone developers and began chatting about Twitter. Mr. Sagolla decided to bring Mr. Jackson, who he said updates his Twitter feed as many as 10 times an hour, into the fold.

The two expect the book to be available for download on Apple’s iPhone by the end of the month. Although the plan is to eventually get a version of “140 Characters” in print, Mr. Sagolla said releasing the book through iTunes first would be a good way to reduce the need for a major investment upfront, as well as a springboard to attract interested publishing houses.

“140 Characters” isn’t the first book written about the popular San Francisco, Calif., micro-blogging company. There’s also “Twitter Revolution,” “ Twitter Means Business” and “Twitter for Dummies,” for starters. But Mr. Sagolla says that while the previous publications tended to home in more on the business and money-making potential aspect of the tool, “140 Characters” is an attempt to create easy rules for all sorts of social networking sites, including Facebook.

“Our goal is to make Twitter applicable to any kind of user,” said Mr. Sagolla.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

Scott February 13, 2009 · 9:55 am

I tried it, didn’t find it useful so i opted out. It was interesting but most of my friends are still having trouble with email. Should i call them “twits”?

JamesBruni February 13, 2009 · 10:56 am

Thx for sharing this great guide with us, Jenna.

I knew about the “bathroom tweets” but there’s plenty of great advice that’s new too.

Michael Alan Harvey February 13, 2009 · 12:25 pm

A style guide to Twitter misses the point. Sagolla and Jackson are irrelevant, as is anyone who attempts to mold Twitter content. The Twitter text box must remain open to anything by anyone. Twitterers, resist the attempts of The Man to control your voice! Defy style guides! Read “Steal This Twitter”: //pfunn.com?p=439

Todd Tate February 13, 2009 · 12:48 pm

Remember the Wired “Web” style guide? Like Web site. Not Website. Now that was a guide.

ZuDfunck February 13, 2009 · 12:53 pm

iTunes does books?

Behind the scenes at the twitter carnival, Cool!

C-Unit February 13, 2009 · 12:58 pm

People who use Twitter and similar tools are themselves tools. Do something real.

Erin Sparling February 13, 2009 · 1:02 pm

Shouldn’t the review for this book be 140 characters? An example:

This book sets the style guide straight for tweets. Everyone who enjoys shortform communication as a preferred contact method will benefit.

Joy-Mari February 13, 2009 · 2:18 pm

Oh please. Do we really need this?

Allison February 13, 2009 · 2:33 pm

Interesting how everyone but the current founders/developers of Twitter are making money by creating rules about the “right way” to use Twitter. The truth is that regular users of Twitter will determine how it is used, what is wrong and what is right. Depending on the reasons that people use Twitter and to whom they are twittering, different norms will be appropriate.

But you can’t blame people for declaring themselves experts in the hope of making book money, I suppose. I certainly won’t be shelling out money to anyone to teach me how to use Twitter.

Charlie P February 13, 2009 · 3:03 pm

Twitter. Please. If William Strunk Jr. ever returned and saw what was going on under the name of “writing,” he would never stop throwing up.

Michael Buechele February 13, 2009 · 3:31 pm

The only rules of Twitter should be in the TOS. For the people that are using it, and those that follow them, there are no rules, but that’s not stopping people from writing books about it and cashing in.

Twitter has been a wonderful networking and marketing tool for me. If you know how to shake someone’s hand and network, or market a product without alienating people who want to hear your message, then not being on Twitter is a big mistake.

Linda Austin February 13, 2009 · 4:56 pm

They need to concentrate on social networking etiquette and tips on how to make the most of twitter, and that can include definitions. It’s not “rules,” but rather etiquette and good business practice because there are a lot of annoying spammer-types out there, including newbies who don’t know any better, and people (even important business people) who have really boring twits. Etiquette lessons are really needed in MySpace (OMG) and useful for other social networks, too.

BarbaraKB February 13, 2009 · 6:03 pm

Does anyone see the irony in a *book* about how to write for Twitter?

Laura February 13, 2009 · 6:30 pm

Yes, what a scam. Personally I think Twitter is really stupid. If some idiot is going to buy a book to learn how to text, joke is definitely on them. I’ve seen some of twitter and for the most part it’s idiots trying to be clever and linking bad camera phone photos. I can’t think of a worse way to spend time. I know a few people through work who use Twitter and they are kind of losers, really on edge and sort of self centered. I think in their little twitter worlds they feel like kings…..losers.

Zach February 14, 2009 · 12:36 am

A book for Twitter usage is quite possibly the stupid idea I’ve heard on Twitter. There should be no rules. You tweet whatever you like. If you don’t like it, too bad. You don’t listen to them. Get over it and move on.

coren February 14, 2009 · 10:39 pm

Some of these comments seem to be missing the point. This book won’t magically prevent you from using twitter any way you want, just as Elements of Style doesn’t prevent anyone from turning in papers that look like they came straight from the mind of a second grader. And no, it isn’t necessary, but then again, twitter isn’t either, nor is facebook, myspace, and probably the entirety of the current NYT bestseller list. If you’re not interested, don’t pick it up.

Joy-Mari February 15, 2009 · 5:56 am

That’s a good point, Barbara.

Carlos February 15, 2009 · 6:18 am

There always somebody writing books about the latest tech fads going around. Maybe not a good idea about the style but perhaps a book on how to access the twitter api and how to write apps for it, if there isn’t one out there already?

Steve February 15, 2009 · 2:49 pm

I’m actually excited for this book. I’m not going to follow every detail of it but I can see that a lot of Twitter users are complaining about not getting any replies and not building real relationships. If these guys can put in book form what they’ve done on Twitter, that would be great. Dominic has like 6K followers and Adam has over 2K and they get tons of replies!

Their Twitter posts are really good so I’m going to follow them just because they are obviously doing something right. You guys that say Twitter is what you want it to be, post your Twitter name so I can see your followers and replies and if you have any less than these guys, you might need the book more than i do.

All I’m saying is that Twitter can be whatever you want but there is a formula for it and some of us are interested in actually finding out what that formula is. For those of you that don’t care, just shutup and continue doing Twitter the wrong way.

Jennifer February 15, 2009 · 8:01 pm

So much vanity online.

John Heaney February 16, 2009 · 5:00 pm

yet another example of how out of touch with new media the NYT is… in an article about Twitter, written by two Twitter fanboys, the NYT does not include (much less link to) their Twitter names. RIP NYT.

Brian Hayashi February 17, 2009 · 2:29 pm

The idea of a Twitter version of Strunk & White’s “Elements of Style” enjoyed a huge buzz about a month ago on #journchat, a weekly Twitter event that’s held every Monday evening.

Both of the authors have huge followings and have had a lot of experience using Twitter.

And yet — I suspect that we are still in the very early innings of what Twitter is and what it can be. The “rules” are fluid at best. Consequently, I very much doubt that the final product will live up to its promise.

Tim Casart February 19, 2009 · 11:25 am

An exercise in pomposity.

This book is as necessary as the yet unwritten style guide for the inevitable 70-character MicroTwitter that will take the Internet by storm later this year.

To the gravy-training ad-wizards behind this project: Twitter is defined by the masses. Let’s all hope America isn’t as gullible as you suspect.

Now let’s forget anyone outside of a marketing meeting ever compared this flotsam to “The Elements of Style,” which has proven itself mildly useful.

Jim Sweeney February 20, 2009 · 9:35 am

Judging from the comments, it is clear just how little agreement there is among users about how to use anything on the Internet. Regardless, the idea of telling Twitterers how to use Twitter is just a bit ridiculous as it defies the very purpose of Twitter.

But even more peculiar is the desire of the authors to get their guide published (printed on paper). Why not just Twitter it to the world 140 words at a time?