SUMMARY: What do you want to be called? (Long)

Subject: SUMMARY: What do you want to be called? (Long)
From: LynnMc -at- EXABYTE -dot- COM
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 19:06:18 -0600

First of all, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply to this
question.

Out of 49 total responses, Technical Writer (21) was an overwhelming
favorite compared to Technical Communicator (9). However, nearly half (19)
of the respondents gave a choice "other" than Technical Writer or Technical
Communicator.

(I also asked this same question of some STC survey respondents. Of the 13
people who replied, Technical Writer (9) was again favored over Technical
Communicator (3); 1 person had no preference.

VOTES FOR TECH WRITER OR TECH COMMUNICATOR

As mentioned above, the vote in favor of Tech Writer was 21 to 9. Many
people also commented that the title on their business card did not
necessarily match what they would call themselves.

The arguments in favor of each (TW or TC) were somewhat similar; they just
tended to land on opposite sides of the fence. Those who said they preferred
TW thought that this title was less pretentious and more descriptive of what
they do. Those who preferred TC said that they do more than just write.

Some people emphasized a perception that TWs are actually a "subset" of TCs,
in that TCs do "more" than TWs. For example:

"I'm a technical communicator because my expertise includes writing plus
interface design and other forms of communication that are beyond
'writing'."

"Technical communicators may do the work of technical writers, but they are
also qualified to do other types of writing. They have the ability to write
several different types of documentation and it is not always highly
technical... Such varied writing requires special skills."

Comments about why people chose one of the two proposed titles (technical
writer versus technical communicator) include the following:

"I am a writer. I want to be called a writer. Writer is an old and honorable
profession. I do realize that everyone who owns a pencil thinks they know
how to use it, but their fantasy is not my problem. 'Communicator' is weak.
It is one of those new-age isms that is unneeded and unwanted. Stick to
writer."

"(I prefer) Technical Communicator - Only because of management's perception
that anyone can write and communication is always a hot topic at work. It's
a status thing. True, anyone can write stuff on a piece of paper but it
takes a skilled communicator to make it clear."

"I'm a writer. I put words in a row--simply, usefully, gracefully--about
all kinds of things."

"I believe that I lean more towards 'technical communicator' because that
seems more of an umbrella term that more closely mirrors the many diverse
tasks we now find ourselves performing."

"Although I've been known to refer to myself as a Documentation Goddess or
Word Monkey I prefer plain ol' Technical Writer. Technical Communicator
sounds too darn ... well ... Dilberty for my taste. :)"

"I use technical communicator (even though we're called 'Information
Developers' at my company) because we do more than write--we get the raw
information and edit, organize, write more, format, create/modify graphics,
edit and write some more, etc."

"Technical writer... I don't like 'technical communicator' because it plays
down the writing aspects of the job. (Also it's an unfamiliar term, and it's
hard enough convincing some people that there really is a job called
'technical writer' ..."

"Technical writer is more specific. Technical communicator, to me, covers
writers, editors, illustrators and all those other good people."

"(Technical writer). I have enough trouble explaining what a technical
writer does to people who are not in the high tech field! I don't need a
'fancier' title!"

"Personally, I would prefer technical writer. Technical writer is a
recognized term which is roughly the same from industry to industry.
Technical communicator sounds like a buzz word from today's politically
correct terminology books and it doesn't really define what the person
does."

"I prefer 'communicator' because my tasks are so varied. I'm the user
advocate, performance support specialist, writer of technical and user
documentation, developer of help, online and web documents and QA on the
apps and the documents."

"Technical writer - no fact to back it up, that's just what I like."

"I think technical communicator might be more appropriate as our profession
is ever expanding to contain web developers, computer based training
developers, technical graphical artists, etc."

"You can call me whatever you want, but 'technical writer' is still the
label I give myself."

"I just got new business cards & decided to go with the trend. It says,
'Technical Communicator.' This sounds *slightly* flaky to me, I'll admit,
but not as nebulous as 'Information Designer'!"

"I like technical writer because it's easier to say. Seriously, that sounds
dumb, but otherwise I always feel like I'm posturing when I say what I do.
My title here at work is 'documentation coordinator' and I think perhaps 10
syllables is a bit much, when technical writer is really the essence of my
job."

THE "OTHER" VOTES

The "Other" category claimed nearly as many positive responses (19) as did
Technical Writer (21). "Other" titles included the following:

*Software Publications Specialist
*Information Developer
*Documentation Developer
*Knowledge Manager
*Information Engineer
*Knowledgeware Analyst

And then there were those who chimed in with "less serious" Other responses.
These folks applied the following colorful descriptors to their titles.
(Some apparently even appear on business cards!)

*Supreme Word Goddess
*She Who Must Be Obeyed
*Self-appointed custodian of detail
*"Sir" or "Captain"
*Document and Online Publishing Engineer
*Ruler of the Known Universe

CONCLUSION

Interesting and surprising responses, at least to me. (Especially with the
published articles that say otherwise, I wouldn't have expected so many
people preferring to be known as technical writers.) I do find it kind of
fascinating that our profession uses so many different titles and yet when
you look for a job, the only title that yields meaningful results (unless
you are truly looking for Web developer or technical illustrator work) is
technical writer... Not sure what that means: we're ahead of our time?

Thanks again,

Lynn

From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=


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