THE ANALYTICS OF SPELLING ARCHAEOLOGY (IN)CORRECTLY
More people use the incorrect spelling of “archaeology” for Twitter hashtags than Google searches.
There are two ways of spelling archaeology for web and social searches. Traditionally (and according to my auto-correct), the “ae” is considered standard in U.S. and Canada. Yet, “archeology” is still alive and kicking in social media. As an archaeologist creating digital content, the choice to use either will ultimately affect who will find it.
Google Search
Google searches prefer use the word using the ae. However. “Archeology” on a is more prevalent in areas that are completely unrelated to region or dialect. The reasoning behind these results isn’t immediately clear. This may be a product of business names or websites local to the area.
Twitter Hashtags
In social media, not all hashtags were created equal… even if it’s on the same topic. Twitter searches using #archaeology or #archeology will give you completely different results (see below). The percentage of posts using #archeology are slightly higher in Non-English speaking countries (pink, blue, green) but the use of both spellings are dominant in the U.S (15% and 19%). Even more interesting is the differences in top accounts. Handles using the traditional spelling have double the number of followers than those who omit the extra letter.
Does it matter?
Institutional standardization and auto-fill are most likely for reason higher values using “archaeology” on Google. The numbers for hashtag usage are interesting but more in favor of the correct spelling in terms increasing your follower count. Even if you tweeted “STOP SPELLING ARCHAEOLOGY INCORRECTLY” you will still have to use #archeology to get the other 15% to see it.
