I don’t know about you, but just when I feel like I’m getting a “GRASP” on today’s social media terms or acronyms, a new social platform appears. And, every new platform means more new terms. Social Media continues to grow very rapidly whether we want it to or not. In, fact, it has become one of the important players in the marketing world. Therefore, we are expected to keep up with what’s trending. But do we need to be in the know on every new acronym on every single social media network out there!? Every time I think – “yes, I get it all” I find more lingo that I’ve never heard of, and have no idea what it means.
In today’s society, I feel I should be in the know. I should understand what it all means so that I can participate. But when I don’t…I’m totally embarrassed to ask, “just what the h**l are you talkin’ about?”, or “what does that acronym mean?” In fact, it’s rather intimidating to feel like I’m constantly two steps behind.
Here are just a few terms that I know off by heart. They seem to be universally used over all social platforms.
LOL: laugh out loud (not, lots of love…learned that one the hard way)
TBH: to be honest
OH: overheard
TBT: Throwback Thursday
FOMO: Fear of missing out
TL;DR: too large don’t read
ROTFL: Rolling on the floor laughing
While researching this blog topic, I came across terms and acronyms that COMPLETELY baffled my mind. I figure if they baffle me, there must be others out there with the same dilemma.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization the process of organizing your website to give it the best chance of appearing near the top of search engine rankings
Search Engine Rankings: the order that your website appears in when someone is looking for your product.
Wiki: A website that allows anyone to add, delete or revise content by using a web browser. You might be familiar with Wikipedia.
UGC: User-generated content anything published online by the Average Joe.
Algo: Algorithm is a system that suggests pages in an order by search engines in response to a search query.
Widget: A widget is a small, attractive application on a website such as a hit counter. Most often widgets are used on smartphones for quick access to apps.
Linkbait: Designed to attract incoming links. News and widget hooks are good examples.
Meme: a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users.
Traffic: This refers to the number of visitors that visit a website.
Tweeps: A person’s followers on Twitter.
Trending: A word, phrase or topic that is popular on social media at a given moment.
I hope you found this blog as informative as I did writing it. To learn more terms and acronyms check out this blog article. There is no need to feel embarrassed about asking about something you don’t know. Of course, if you don’t feel comfortable asking someone, there is always Google! In the meantime I’m going to keep learning.
“Smartphones and social media expand our universe. We can connect with others or collect information easier and faster than ever.” – Daniel Goleman