Maybe not
> if twitter isn't going down
I disagree. Ddos is a type of attack, not the result of an attack. If they're hitting their services way too many times in a distributed fashion, it's a ddos regardless of how it was handled.
Similarly, would you say this[0] wasn't a ddos because it was mitigated? I think not.
I agree. DoS is an attack, so without intent it is fuzzy. But I think it is pretty descriptive, so it's okay. I know exactly what self-ddos means instantly (flooding your own service, without malicious intent).
I think it's kind of a limitation with English or the term ddos. If it really is only used it for intent to attack, it becomes less useful of a word IMO.