The Internet will die come June 1st, 2016, as declared by the people charged with the responsibilities of making entries in the Associated Press Stylebook (APS).
Before you dismiss this as another conspiracy theory about the death of the Internet and Technology as a whole, we are talking about how the word ‘Internet’ is written. APS have announced that come June 1st, 2016 and going forward; the word Internet will be written as internet; no upper casing as has been the trend, especially in tech journals.
If you’re a tech editor or writer, you probably know we write Internet not internet like it is a Proper Noun (name of a Person, Mountain, Lake, etc.) and a Common Noun (noun denoting a class of things or concept but not a particular individual).
The AP Stylebook acts like a guidebook for authoritative newspapers and blogs around the world when it comes to their style of writing. AP Stylebook defines the internet as “a decentralized, worldwide network of computers that can communicate with each other.” By all rights, it is a pretty big achievement that some feel the word used to describe it deserves an uppercase like a Proper Noun.
This revocation of Internet’s uppercase to the just internet will take effect come June 1st, 2016. When the latest style guide comes out.