We talked to the genius behind Merriam-Webster's hilariously sassy Twitter
It's 2017, and one of the sassiest voices on the internet is... a dictionary.
In case you're a productive member of society who doesn't spend all their time online, the official Twitter of the Merriam-Webster dictionary has become a viral sensation.
The Twitter account keeps on shading former reality TV star and 45th President Donald J. Trump — and people are here for it.
First, it pointed out that "fascist" was its most frequently searched word in late November.
'Fascism' is still our #1 lookup.
# of lookups = how we choose our Word of the Year.
There's still time to look something else up.— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 29, 2016
Second, they mocked Trump for inventing the word "unpresidented" in a since-deleted tweet. (He meant "unprecedented.)
Good morning! The #WordOfTheDay is...not 'unpresidented'. We don't enter that word. That's a new one. https://t.co/BJ45AtMNu4
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 17, 2016
Then, on Sunday, it offered this cutting rebuke to Kellyanne Conway's new catchphrase "alternative facts."
*whispers into the void* In contemporary use, fact is understood to refer to something with actual existence. https://t.co/gCKRZZm23c
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) January 24, 2017
And the next day, the account followed it up with yet another burn — tweeting out the definition of "claqueur" (a paid applauder) after reports that the Trump administration had planted staff to clap during a press conference.
If you're part of a group that's paid to applaud, you're a 'claqueur'. https://t.co/EX96vGLGDz
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) January 24, 2017
The account has been hailed as a leader of the resistance, and the denizens of the internet have understandably wanted to know: Who is the genius behind Merriam-Webster's Twitter — and will they be getting a raise?
We can't speak to the question of salary, but there is in fact a human being (and not a 939-page printed book) behind the Twitter account. She's a 33-year-old woman named Lauren Naturale.
Naturale, who writes the tweets herself with some creative input from other writers at Merriam-Webster, assured me that the 186-year-old dictionary is a "politically neutral" brand — but that doesn't mean it has to be boring.
Naturale spoke to Mic by email. The following interview transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Mic: So, how did you land your current job?
Lauren Naturale: I applied on Twitter: Merriam-Webster tweeted that there was an opening for a social media manager, I messaged them with my qualifications, they told me to send a resume, and I ended up here. It gives me hope for social media, because I don't think I would have gotten a call if I'd applied the traditional way — I'd spent the second half of my twenties in an English Ph.D. program at Berkeley, and I didn't have a lot of social media experience. It ended up being a plus: Merriam decided that instead of hiring someone with lots of social media experience and hoping they'd learn more about language, they'd hire someone who already knew a lot about language and hope I could learn social media.
I'm convinced that this is why our Twitter is so popular, by the way. If we weren't geeking out about words for a living, we'd all be doing it for fun. People can tell when you care, and everyone here cares.
What do people say when you tell them what your job is?
LN: After [news site] Ozy.com ran a profile of me in December, I found out from some of my more distant friends that they hadn't realized I worked here. They thought I was posting Merriam-Webster stuff to Facebook all the time because I was some kind of Merriam-Webster superfan. Which I am, but...
What's the sassiest Tweet you've ever sent?
LN:
Because we have the best words. https://t.co/1smwcGhBZW
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) January 18, 2017
Now that fewer and fewer people own physical dictionaries, how do you see your role in keeping dictionaries like Merriam-Webster relevant?
LN: Our job is to be where our audience is. A lot of people still own and continue to buy physical dictionaries, and a lot of people look for our services in various digital formats. Our job is to make sure the public knows about all of these products, and obviously having a lively social media presence helps with that. Since the "fact" tweet, people keep contacting us saying they're going to buy a dictionary, and — yes! Buy a dictionary if you like! But you could also get our app, or subscribe to the Unabridged or just use our free site to look words up. The dictionary is everywhere.
I often hear people saying things like, "OMG who runs this account?" How does it feel to be the mystery woman behind such a popular Twitter?
LN: Sometimes a person I know in real life, or used to know, will tweet that and tag @MerriamWebster, and I will die laughing. But I'm not M-W; M-W is the place where I work, and you see the work of a whole group of people reflected in the things we post.
From one Twitter pro to another — what do you think about Donald Trump's use of Twitter?
LN: I think it's interesting that the official POTUS account is explicitly credited to his social media manager, while he continues to post presidential tweets from a second account.
Donald Trump doesn't seem to have very good spelling — think he could benefit from a Merriam-Webster dictionary?
LN: I think everyone could benefit from a Merriam-Webster dictionary.