Social Media Lexicon
By Amanda Barr
Algorithm- a set of formulas developed by sites like Facebook and Google to create
content-sharing strategies for the news feed
Android: an open-source operating system used for smartphones and tablet
computers.
App: Short for application, these are specialized programs for computers or
handheld devices. Examples: Web browsers, games, music players
Avatar: an image that represents a person online on social networks
Bio: a short biography that is part of your online profile
Block: A feature that allows you to prevent another user from accessing your
personal page.
Blog: An online journal that is updated regularly; entries are known as posts and
appear in reverse chronological order. Examples: Blogger, Tumblr,
Wordpress
Bookmark: Just like a physical bookmark, an online bookmark saves the site you are
on to return to later. Can be done through apps with programs like Pocket
and Instapaper or directly in your browser window
Chat: Any kind of rapid communication over the internet. Much like texting, but can
be done via many apps, programs and devices.
Clickbait: web content with misleading or sensationalist headline to entice users to
click through to read the full story, with the goal of generating page views
and ad revenue.
Cloud storage: The cloud is a broad term used to describe online or offsite data
storage, which is no longer tied to a single machine or device. There are a
variety of companies offering this service, which is frequently now included
with new apps and devices. Examples: iCloud, Amazon, Dropbox, Google
Drive (formerly Google Documents)
Comment: A response or reaction to a post or message on a social network
Craigslist: Free online classified advertising and commerce site
Creative Commons: A not-for-profit company and licensing system that allows
creators to specify the terms of use for their work. See creativecommons.org
Creep: to spend an extended period of time looking through someone’s profiles,
photos, and videos on social media.
Crowdfunding: Online systems of soliciting donations or investments from users to
raise money to support a cause or underwrite a project. Examples:
Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, GoFundMe
Crowdsourcing: Soliciting content, ideas, or skills from online to help solve a
problem collectively.
Direct Message: DM: a private message on Twitter
eBook: An electronic version of a book that can be downloaded and read on your
computer or electronic device.
Emoji/Emoticons:   pictographs used on digital devices to convey emotion or
meaning
Engagement: the act of talking to, messaging, liking, or otherwise interacting with
other users on social media networks
Etsy: A very popular e-commerce site focused on handmade and vintage items and
supplies, which creates a centralized and easy-to-use sales platform along
with communities of artists and forums for discussion.
Facebook: the world’s most popular social networking site, accessible via the
homepage or through various apps. Users can post updates, share links,
photos and videos, as well as like or comment on posts made by others. Also
includes private messaging, chat, games and can be integrated with many
popular sites for log-in and content sharing. Pages can be created for groups,
businesses, events, fans, and other needs.
Favorite: an indication that a user likes a tweet, given by clicking the star icon.
Fair Use: Fair use is a US law that permits limited use of copyrighted material
without permission for educational purposes or review.
Feed: A web feed is a format that provides users with frequently updated content.
These can be subscription based such as RSS or news readers, or can refer to
the stream of posts on social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram and
Facebook.
Firefox: A free, open-source web browser, one of the most popular, allowing for
customization via third-party apps
Flickr: a social network based around online picture sharing in albums, groups, sets
and other methods.
Following: the number of users an account is following
#FF Follow Friday: a trend where users select other usernames and recommend
them in their post
Follower: account that is following a user
Foursquare: location-based social media service that allows users to find local
places and to “check in” when they visit.
Friends: Individuals you are connected to on Facebook. May or may not be real-life
acquaintances.
Geolocation: tagging a photo, video, or message with a specific location.
Gif: Graphics Interchange Format, a format which supports both static and animated
images. Allows sharing of short video clips in condensed format without need
to press play.
Google Chrome: A free web browser that can fully with your computer and its online
search system as well as other applications.
Handle: another way of saying your account name. Generally denoted with “@”
Hashtag: Hashtags (#) are markers or tags used to create additional connectivity
and metadata to your posts on social media sites. By prefixing a word or
phrase with a hashtag, other users can follow the use of the tag- a quick way
to aggregate, organize and discover relevant posts. Examples: #followfriday,
#NCECA2015, #socialclay
Homepage/Home: the first page you see when you sign into your social media
account. Usually contains a constantly updating timeline or “feed” of the user
activity and news stories in your network.
HootSuite: An aggregator app that will combine feeds and posting ability across
multiple platforms.
iDevices: Any number of handheld electronic devices created for internet and app
use. Smartphones, iPhone, iPad, Android devices, Google Chromebook are
examples.
Instagram: a photo sharing application that lets users take photos, apply filters, and
share the photos instantly on the network and other social networks.
Keyword: an index term that makes a page on the internet easily searchable.
Like: an action that can be made on a post by a Facebook user as a quick way to
show approval, share the message, or simply show it was seen.
List: a curated set of Twitter accounts that you can choose to group together- a
convenient way of organizing other users.
LinkedIn: a business-oriented social networking site
Meme: a thought, joke, idea, or concept that is shared online, generally humorous
and viral in nature
Metadata: is data that describes other data. Meta is a prefix that in most information
technology usages means "an underlying definition or description." Often
describes cookies (saved information from the website), cached versions of
websites (saved pages that can be accessed offline), and geo-location data.
Mute: a feature that allows the silencing of other users without deleting them (or
unfollowing).
Net Neutrality: Net neutrality is the principle that governments and service
providers should not discriminate data on the Internet, by not charging
differently by user, content, site, platform, application, equipment, or mode of
communication. A hot-button political topic, as large providers of
Newsfeed: a feed full of news. On most social networks it is the homepage of users’
accounts where they can see all the latest updates from their friends. On
Twitter it’s referred to as the Timeline.
Open Source: software for which the original source code is made freely available
and may be redistributed and modified.
Paid Search: information that has been paid for to be at the top of the search items.
Ie: the paid search terms on Google usually show up on the right
Pay-per-click: some sites receive ad revenue per “click”, or per user that visits the ad
site. This is how Facebook Advertising functions.
Pinterest: a visual organizer for saving and sharing links to webpages and other
media you like, known as “pins”, represented by a picture and a description
of your choosing. Can be curated into “boards”. Works like a virtual
scrapbook; pins can be shared, repined by others, or bookmarked.
Platform: any of the various social media sites, ie: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram are
all separate platforms.
Podcast: a series of digital media, either audio or video, that are released
episodically. Commonly shared on iTunes, Stitcher, and on the web.
Post: a status update, an item on a blog, any update to social media.
Profile: generally the same as a bio.
Reply- a public response to someone’s Tweet that begins with their @handle
Retweet/Regram/Reblog: (RT, RG): re-sharing someone else’s post on your own
account, directly from theirs, so that the post links directly to the original.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization: the practice of increasing the visibility of a web
page in a search engine, based on keywords, tags, and descriptions.
Social Media: websites and applications that enable users to create and share
content or to participate in social networking.
Social Networking: the use of dedicated websites and applications to interact with
other users, or to find people with similar interests to oneself.
Spam: unnecessary, unwanted, repetitive social media content. No one wants it,
everyone gets it.
Status Update: Same as Post.
Subtweet: passive aggressive Twitter posting
Tags: an intentional keyword (label) given to a post on the internet.
Thread: the entire series of messages or discussion on a social media platform
Throwback Thursday #tbt: weekly social media tradition on Instagram and now
other platforms of posting older photographs on Thursdays.
Timestamp: the date and time that a message is posted to a social network
Trend: a topic or hashtag that is popular on social media at a given moment
Troll: One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message
board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument
Twitter: social network and media platform using 140-character messages (Tweet)
as well as photos, videos, gifs, links and other content. Famous for real-time
and emergent discussions
Tweetup/Meetup: Meeting of a group of users from social media, generally arranged
online
Unfollow: unsubscribing from another user’s account
URL: the location of a page on the web.
URL shortener: a tool that condenses a URL into a shorter and social media friendly
format (bit.ly, ow.ly)
User-generated-content: media that has been created and published online by the
users of a social platform
Viral: anything that is circulated rapidly online
Wall: on Facebook this is the location where friends can post public messages to
other friends
Web Analytics: is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of web data
for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Web analytics is
not just a tool for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for business
and market research, and to assess and improve the effectiveness of a
website.
Webinar: a seminar conducted over the internet
Widget: an application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to
perform a function or access a service.
Wikipedia: a free, open content online encyclopedia that is collaboratively edited by
users
Wordpress: both a website interface platform/content management system with
customizable widgets, themes ad plugins, and free blog space
(wordpress.org)
YouTube: a free online video sharing platform.
LOL: Laugh out loud.
SMH: shaking my head
LMAO: laughing my ass off
WTF: what the $%#&?
NBD: no big deal
TIL: today I learned…
OMW: on my way!
OMG: oh my god
TTYL: talk to you later!
BRB: be right back
JK: just kidding
AKA: also known as
ASAP: as soon as possible
ATM: at the moment
B4: before
BBS: be back soon
B/C: because
BF: boyfriend
BFF: best friend (forever)
GF: girlfriend
BTW: by the way
DIY: do it yourself
LMGTFY: let me google that for you
FAQ: frequently asked questions
DIMH: Dancing in my house
FITB: fill in the blank
Fwd: forward
Fyi: for your information
Gtg/g2g: got to go
H8: hate
IDK: I don’t know
IMHO: in my honest opinion
IRL: in real life
JLMK: just let me know
LQTM: laughing quietly to myself
LYL: love you lots
MYOB: mind your own business
NBD: no big deal
NM: never mind
O RLY: oh, really?
PLZ: please
PPL: people
Q: question
A: answer
SRY: sorry
SSDD: same stuff different day
STFU: shut the *&% up
SUP: what’s up?
TBC: to be continued
TTFN: ta ta for now
TTYL: talk to you later
TMI: too much information
WTG: way to go!
YOLO: you only live once!