Twitter should now be referred to as X: How academics, journals and publishers need to make the nomenclatural transition

TL;DR

This paper advocates for the consistent use of the term 'X' instead of 'Twitter' in academic publications, emphasizing the importance of accurate nomenclature during the platform's transition period.

Contribution

It provides a clear guideline for authors and publishers to adopt the new nomenclature 'X' in scholarly work, except in historical contexts, to ensure factual accuracy.

Findings

16 recent papers used Twitter and X inconsistently

The transition period allows for dual usage but should be phased out

Authors should adopt 'X' exclusively for current references

Abstract

Here, we note how academics, journals and publishers should no longer refer to the social media platform Twitter as such, rather as X. Relying on Google Scholar, we found 16 examples of papers published in the last months of 2023 - essentially during the transition period between Twitter and X - that used Twitter and X, but in different ways. Unlike that transition period in which the binary Twitter/X could have been used in academic papers, we suggest that papers should no longer refer to Twitter as Twitter, but only as X, except for historical studies about that social media platform, because such use would be factually incorrect.