I have to make sure that everythingвЂ™s correct.вЂќ And I have actually become much less judgmental since working at the dictionary.

ThatвЂ™s how language works, right? HereвЂ™s the surprising thing: People always say to me, вЂњOh, no, now I have to watch what I say around you. This is not a hired gun whoвЂ™s doing this.ДЄre you worried that social media in general is detracting from peopleвЂ™s grammar and vocabulary skills, especially younger generationsвЂ™? I think the idea is that these people fundamentally care about language. A lot of the posts are his original work, but a lot of it comes from conversations that we have at Slack or in the office or pulled out of the articles that the team is writing. Our current social media manager is this guy called Adam. What youвЂ™re hearing is peopleвЂ™s voices as we have conversations in the office. Our voice works because itвЂ™s not a branding effort. What do you think Merriam-Webster does differently than your competitors? Do you think you are more fun or more engaging than other linguistic social accounts? Why donвЂ™t we just pull the curtain back?вЂќ So the vision was we just draw back the curtain on the fabulousness that is every single day in the office. We would have these great conversations about language in the office, and I would just go like, вЂњOh my God, I love my job, I love my job! This is the fun part. There was no interactivity.Д«ut internally, I was having so much fun at work. We posted a Word of the Day without illustration or commentary. When I joined Merriam-Webster, the social media presence was pretty staid and boring. What was your vision for the social media presence? And two is to help people understand language better so they can better understand and communicate with the world around them. Our mission statement is in two parts: Number one is to propagate our irrational love of the English language. So I think itвЂ™s that combination of really geeking out on something and digging into it in a way that can be funny or surprising or entertaining-but also having that really solid foundation. We donвЂ™t make decisions about what goes into the dictionary. WeвЂ™ve been called sassy, and weвЂ™re fine with that as long as people understand that itвЂ™s layered on top of seriousness. I would say we are smart, and funny, and unexpected.

H ow would you describe the mission statement for Merriam-WebsterвЂ™s social presence?

Schneider and I recently spoke on the phone to talk social media missions, strange DM requests, and the heated debate of whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich. A big reason why is chief digital officer Lisa Schneider and her team. Merriam-Webster has taken on the task of making people care about words again, and itвЂ™s working. The rise in popularity came when the Trump campaign tried to convince the public that вЂњalternative factвЂќ and вЂњunpresidentedвЂќ were legitimate words and phrases, but Merriam-Webster wasnвЂ™t having it. Or maybe you took notice during the 2016 election, when the dictionary not only became relevant, but edgy and funny, all because of its digital presence. If you follow Merriam-Webster on Twitter, you may be a language nerd like me. Every month, social media editor Tallie Gabriel will talk with the people behind the most creative, notable, and successful social media accounts. The Social Club is ContentlyвЂ™s new Q&A series.

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