Johan Bakken
Ev WilliamsHow strong is Twitter’s trademark on “tweet”? Should be a generic term — he tweets, against his former interest, on Mastodon.
Joe Steinbring 
Albert Kinng 
@ev well, ‘tweet’ was actually brought up by the geniuses from @Iconfactory so Twitter really doesn’t owned it. (Maybe they do) but the magic of owning a verb by the brand is fantastic. So maybe using a word related to mastodon will be better. I’m new here but I guess people here already have a word for it. Anyone? Mastoot? Toot? Trunky?
Mike Garuccio@albertkinng the community seems to have settled on “toot”.
It feels a bit awkward to say, but pretty sure “tweet” did too and we all just don’t remember anymore.
@mgaruccio I like ‘toot’
Jan
Hilda Bastian@ev The association is strong & it's not a generic term in any way.
Just because Twitter has dominated microblogging, I don't think it should define it. It's not like Twitter invented the medium.
Well, it’s generic in at least one way: it’s a dictionary word that predates Twitter.
I realize many trademarks are dictionary words and usage/association matters. And it is not *yet* generic in terms of usage. But might that change?
@ev I don't think so - too many distasteful connotations for too many people.
josh@ev toot is better than tweet and funnier :)
Brian Dear@ev Twitter applied for a USPTO registration back in 2009. As of Dec 2022 they're still doing filings on the "Tweet" service mark. Now, if Elmo fired all the lawyers, USPTO will eventually say, hey, we waited long enough . . .
Shield Maiden@ev 'Post' does what it sez on the tin. 'Tweet' is what garden birds do.
k cavaliere@ev "Tweet" is also commonly known as the sound a bird makes. Could "bark" and roar" be trademarked? Curious thoughts.
Karen E. Lund 💙💛@ev YOU don't know?
Pomax@ev as strong as any other still active trademark. There's no gradation in trademark: either you enforce it, or you lose it.
Andrew H – № 2025@ev a “tweet” is a post on Twitter and the verb is to post to the same. I think all over networks/apps use the whole phrase of “post on ______” .... unless there’s some word used for FB, Instagram, tumblr, etc.
Maykel Loomans@ev Here we toot, Ev!
@ev Can't we just "post"? "Publish"? "Utter an aphorism"?
Grant 🇺🇦ArmUkraine🇺🇦@ev Eloon gonna be mad. lol
nick woods@ev
If we get that usage to catch on, doesn't that genericize it?
If we get that usage to catch on, doesn't that genericize it?
vktonik@ev tweet spelled backwards is teewt (toot). coincidence? 😆
@ev Aspirin, Cellophane, Dry ice, Escalator, Flip phone, Heroin, Hovercraft, Kerosene, Lanolin, Laundromat, Linoleum, Teleprompter, Trampoline, Videotape https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks I personally don't want tweet to continue because even though it wasn't created by twitter it will forever be associated with them.
Connected Places@ev Tweet and toot are platform specific terms. You cant just describe any post that you see on your Mastodon timeline as either a toot or a tweet, as they might be made on platforms as diverse as PixelFed, Bookwyrm, Owncast, Pleroma, or in the future, even Tumblr. PixelFed users dont toot either, so replacing toot with tweet doesnt make sense.
Now you can describe a post that you've made on Mastodon as a toot, since thats the language that Mastodon users, and a Twitter repost as a tweet
Moni Ghaoui@fediversereport @ev It would be good for the Fediverse to settle on one all-encompassing term, but it shouldn't be "Tweet". "Post" and "Repost" are Reddit terms. Maybe Toot should be used, but my wife laughed when she first heard it because, well...
B!bbi@ev Many people within the fediverse haven't been on twitter before, other's are happy to have left and want to start sth. new. That's why I don't think "tweet" is viable.
Ed W8EMV 
@ev toots are now florps and the timeline goes sideways.
The nice thing about a federated network is that this is all possible within the protocol.
jewel, a fool@ev what sort of trademark does twitter hold for the word "tweet"?
Nathan Schneider@ev posting is fine. The only value of "tweet" is its reinforcement of the Twitter brand.