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> By 9AM PST on Friday Nov. 4th So confused. Isn't the U.S. still on DST until this Sunday, meaning the correct timezone at the Twitter HQ is in fact PDT (Paci

> By 9AM PST on Friday Nov. 4th So confused. Isn't the U.S. still on DST until this Sunday, meaning the correct timezone at the Twitter HQ is in fact PDT (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-7)? PST is Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8), i.e. "winter time". Maybe they thought PST stands for Pacific Summer Time? Or this email was sent by someone from Europe, where DST ended last Sunday?

alkonaut 4y ago
It's common to use the same time zone abbreviation throughout the year. E.g. in Europe you'd be on CET or CEST depending on time of year, but it's common enough to use "CET" for both that it's a de facto standard. Not a hill to die on at this point. CET in this informal way means "CET OR CEST depending on which of them is current at the location at the given time". This can give rise to ambiguity in places, but it's pretty rare that it does.
- CalRobert 4y ago
  Most people don't know what PST is and just use it all year without thinking about it.
thallium205 4y ago
They likely meant to put “PT” which merely indicates Pacific Time ignoring if the time zone is in daylight savings or not.
quartz 4y ago
In my experience no one really uses ST/DT properly in the US in casual email… in fact I can’t remember the last time I received a human-written email referencing EDT or PDT. For some reason everyone just defaults to PST/EST. I’ve given up even trying and just use “PT” and “ET” or even “NYC time” or “SF time” especially when interacting with those outside the US (who are less familiar with the custom and more confused when a mistake is made).
- SwiftyBug 4y ago
  With my team I only use UTC. Specially because most of us are not in the US.
CoastalCoder 4y ago
I see this a lot. I always want to correct people on it. But unfortunately it resides in a funky middle-ground between (a) corrections being welcome / helpful and (b) corrections seeming nit-picky / pedantic. Similarly to misuses (according to classical grammar rules) of "who" vs. "whom". Both grate on me, but there's no acceptable way to get others to change.

alkonaut 4y ago

It's common to use the same time zone abbreviation throughout the year. E.g. in Europe you'd be on CET or CEST depending on time of year, but it's common enough to use "CET" for both that it's a de facto standard. Not a hill to die on at this point. CET in this informal way means "CET OR CEST depending on which of them is current at the location at the given time". This can give rise to ambiguity in places, but it's pretty rare that it does.

CalRobert 4y ago
Most people don't know what PST is and just use it all year without thinking about it.

thallium205 4y ago

They likely meant to put “PT” which merely indicates Pacific Time ignoring if the time zone is in daylight savings or not.

quartz 4y ago

In my experience no one really uses ST/DT properly in the US in casual email… in fact I can’t remember the last time I received a human-written email referencing EDT or PDT. For some reason everyone just defaults to PST/EST. I’ve given up even trying and just use “PT” and “ET” or even “NYC time” or “SF time” especially when interacting with those outside the US (who are less familiar with the custom and more confused when a mistake is made).

SwiftyBug 4y ago
With my team I only use UTC. Specially because most of us are not in the US.

CoastalCoder 4y ago

I see this a lot. I always want to correct people on it. But unfortunately it resides in a funky middle-ground between (a) corrections being welcome / helpful and (b) corrections seeming nit-picky / pedantic. Similarly to misuses (according to classical grammar rules) of "who" vs. "whom". Both grate on me, but there's no acceptable way to get others to change.