On Friday, the AP Stylebook announced that they were finally dropping the hyphen out of “e-mail” and going with “email,” which most of us have been unapologetic in using for some time now.

Today, AP Stylebook announced more changes, taking the spaces out of “cell phone” and “smart phone.”

The AP Stylebook is not the only stylebook out there, but they are the one most commonly followed by most newspapers. Most likely, many other stylebooks that address proper forms of such words will follow suit. As goes the AP Stylebook, so goes the collective lexicon of the nation as that is the style many Americans will see everyday when they read or watch the news.

Why are little changes like this so important? They show a shift is our familiarity and reliance on technology. “E-mail” is not only clunky, but denotes an archaic understanding of what it really is. “E-mail” is electronic mail, simply a type of mail. By removing that little hyphen, “email” becomes a force on its own, not simply an extension of another well-established entity. Same goes for “smartphone” and “cellphone.” When you remove that space, you give more legitimacy to the item. It shows just how integral technology is to everyone’s life.

Ok, that sounds quite dramatic.

But maybe not that far off base. If the official suggestion page for the 2011 AP stylebook is any indication, they are going to have their hands full will tech terms. The top suggestions involve the Like button, “swype” for android phones, and a plea to standardize the past tense of “tweet.” Should it be “tweeted?” “Twittered?” Perhaps “Twote?” We are looking at you, AP Stylebook.

That’s right, now to post a comment you simply hit Enter; the same enter that before only let you skip to the next line.  This is how a comment box now looks:

If you are unhappy with your comment, as is quite likely, the X in the right corner of the comment no longer deletes it, but opens it up for editing.  If you clear the entire comment field, it will in effect delete.

Only when in editing mode does Facebook remind you that Shift+Enter will start a new line.  Of course, experienced Facebook users who wish to edit a misguided comment will have no issue knowing how to do so – thus no danger.  Something tells me, however, that some new and inexperienced users will find themselves screaming “How do I get this off here??”

There is no telling if this change is permanent, or just one of many experiments Facebook throws out there that keeps us all on our toes.  My guess is that there will be no shortage of people asking for their little blue button back.

Just when I knew exactly where everything was and how it worked, Twitter made sweeping changes–apparently without consulting with its users first. I’ve not seen too many Tweets showing delight for the new navigation location.

But, I’m not naive. Despite Twitter doing its best to push these features as huge benefits for its users–perhaps we’ll learn to love them–these changes are not about us. Nope, they’re about Twitter’s ability to grow and remain stable in the process. Here’s the statement to that effect:

But more importantly, it was an investment in the future. We plan to have more tabs, and we’d run out of room putting them along the top. This was the driving factor for this redesign, but you won’t see all the benefits until a future release (hopefully, very soon!).

Go take a look at the list of new features. If you’re a Twitter user, let me know what you think of the design. User either the comments below or @andybeal me. You can also share your feedback with @twitter.

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