Should the “f” in Facebook be capitalized? The icon, logo and brand identity of this popular social networking site use the lowercase letter. Brilliant marketing by breaking the style rule. But what is a copyeditor to do?
Of course, I googled it. (Notice as a verb, Google is not capitalized). My research revealed lots of posts and comments regarding the marketing genius behind NOT capitalizing Facebook. No single authoritative answer emerged on whether to capitalize.
Big letters. Little letters. A big lowercase F. Confusing?
So I consulted The University of Chicago Style Manual. This tome is a treasure trove of rules regarding punctuation, grammar and all things copyediting. Now in its 16th edition, it is available online for a subscription fee. On the website I found you can follow the University of Chicago Style Manual on Facebook, but you can’t find a quick and definitive answer to the question, should the f in Facebook be capitalized.
I remember back in the 1980s when I completed my dissertation at The University of Chicago, that I quaked in my Birkenstocks when I had to meet Kate Turabian to review the final version of my manuscript. Turabian’s Guide to Writing is a freshmen level version of the most important rules to the Chicago styleguide. Back then the debates were over the serial comma and I had to insert more than a few.
Since then, I’ve copyedited more than my share of manuscripts following the Chicago style. Some rules have changed in the last 20 years. Simple things change: only one space between sentences now. So this book with a more than two inch wide spine is always at my ready reference.
The application of copyediting style is always rule based. Consistency in application is the key.
Logic and reason are required to discern the answer regarding the capitalization of Facebook from the style manual. All proper nouns are capitalized. Facebook is a proper noun. Therefore, the F is a capital in Facebook when using the term in text to refer to the unique social networking site.
Give Facebook the capital F and Google the capital G.
Keeping History Alive—an Interview with Bett Fitzpatrick
In the pre-dawn hours of February 18, 1942, three American warships zigzagged in convoy along the south coast of Newfoundland. Caught in a raging blizzard, the three ships ran aground on one of the most inhospitable stretches of coastline in the world—less than three miles apart, within eight minutes of each other. The Wilkes freed herself. The Truxton and Pollux could not. Fighting frigid temperatures, wild surf, and a heavy oil slick, a few sailors, through ingenuity and sheer grit, managed to gain shore—only to be stranded under cliffs some 200 feet high. From there, local miners mounted an arduous rescue mission. In Hard Aground, based onRead more…