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Social Jargon

For lots of people, the thought of social media is still a very daunting one. From hashtagging, Tweeting, Facebook page invites, DM’s, Sharing and going Viral. With more and more people becoming integrated with different social networks, you don’t want to be left behind in terms of the jargon that surrounds social media.

For those who are just beginning their exploration of the different social media networks, you should think of them as a very malleable tool and not as a daunting barrier. As each new channel or network emerges, so do new phrases and slang. Below we have curated a list of the top words and phrases for you to stay on top of the latest and most used bits of social media jargon.

Terms for you to get a grasp of:

Relationship – The connection or the linkage between users.

Post – The name for sharing original content into a network of users.

Share – Used to describe sharing another’s post through the same network.

Response – A user’s reaction or feedback on a post.

Popularity – Method to determine the popularity of a ‘post’ within the network.

Trending Topic – Trending topics refer to the most talked about topics and hashtags on a social media network. These commonly appear on networks like Twitter and Facebook and serve as clickable links in which users can either click through to join the conversation or simply browse the related content.

Descriptors – The in-network methodology for labelling and categorising a post.

Rewards – The way in which the user is rewarded for engaging with the network.

Algorithm – An algorithm is a set of formulas developed for a computer to perform a certain function. This is important in the social sphere as the algorithms sites like Facebook and Google users are critical for developing content promotion strategies.

Clickbait – Clickbait is a term to describe marketing or advertising material that employs a sensationalized headline to attract clicks. They rely heavily on the “curiosity gap” by creating just enough interest to provoke engagement.

DM (Direct Message) – Direct Messages- also referred to as “DMs” — are private conversations that occur on Twitter. Both parties must be following one another to send a message.

Engagement Rate – Engagement rate is a popular social media metric used to describe the amount of interaction — likes, shares, comments — a piece of content receives.

Follower – In a social media setting, a follower refers to a person who subscribes to your account in order to receive your updates.

Geotag – A geotag is the directional coordinates that can be attached to a piece of content online. For example, Instagram users often use geotagging to highlight the location in which their photo was taken.

Handle – Handle is the term used to describe someone’s @username on Twitter. For example, Yellow Cherry’s Twitter handle is @ycdigital.

Hashtag – A hashtag is a tag used on a variety of social networks as a way to annotate a message. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a “#” (i.e. #yellowcherrydigital). Social networks use hashtags to categorize information and make it easily searchable for users.

Impressions – An impression refers to a way in which marketers and advertisers keep track of every time ad is “fetched” and counted.

Mention – A mention is a Twitter term used to describe an instance in which a user includes someone else’s @username in their tweet to attribute a piece of content or start a discussion.

Tag – Tagging is a social media functionality commonly used on Facebook and Instagram that allows users to create a link back to the profile of the person shown in the picture or targeted by the update.

Viral – Viral is a term used to describe an instance in which a piece of content — YouTube video, blog article, photo, etc. — achieves noteworthy awareness. Viral distribution relies heavily on word of mouth and the frequent sharing of one particular piece of content all over the internet.

Now that you can decipher all of this basic social media slang, there is still a mountain of terms and phrases that is ever growing. This is for those head-scratching moments between a tag and mention, but you will soon become a seasoned social media go-er. It’s always best to try and keep as up to date with the latest phrases and newest networks!

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