Social Media Glossary

Confused by Social Media jargon? Don't worry, many people just like yourself are and we at Suddcorp Solutions get asked all the time exactly what a certain term means as social media evolves and changes. Below is a resource that hopefully clearly explains many of these. Don't see yours there? Feel free to contact us and let us know what we're missing.

A

AddThis: A social bookmarking service that provides code for users to copy and paste onto their website or blog. This website add on provides visitors with a large selection of social media platforms to share your content with others.

Avatar: Is an image that represents a person in social media or forums.

B

Bitly: Is a popular URL (web address) shortener that allows users to condense longer URLs into shorter more user friendly addresses.  This application is popular in social media platforms like Twitter where the number of characters is limited.

Blog: Short for "Web Log", is a communication tool for individuals or businesses to present updates, commentary and event descriptions.  Usually blog entries are  posted in reverse chronological order with popular visual enhancements include graphics and video.

Blogger: 2 Meanings:

a) A person who writes blog posts on a frequent basis either on their own or as a guest blogger on another blog. 

b) A free Google owned internet based blogging platform that allows individuals and businesses to set up, and publish their own web logs.

Bookmark: User records a website that they found important or interesting to save for future reference. Bookmarking is traditionally has been done on the internet using the function in the web browser but has also been integrated into many social media platforms.

Buffer: an web or mobile application based social media tools that allows content posts to be scheduled in one sitting and then the Buffer application will look after posting these at the user assigned schedule throughout the day or week. Buffer also provides analytics to check to effectiveness of each post in terms of number of users clickin on the posts and further shares (e.g. retweets).

Business Directories: Online categorized contact listings for businesses to list such information as address, phone number and web and social media links.  Listings may be hosted by Chambers of Commerce, specialty niche market or geographical exclusive websites or general marketing websites. Examples: Yellowpages.ca and FS Local.

C

Chat: usually refers to text based conversation over the internet using instant messaging communications.  Twitter and Skype platforms are the most commonly used.

Circles: Clusters, or groups, of friends found mainly on Google+. Each connection or contact can be categorized into a different group (circle) in a users profile.  This allows sharing of content either to everyone (i.e. public) or to select groups.

Collective Intelligence: The development of ideas or concepts through collaborative contributions within in a group setting.  Decisions are typically made through a consensus decision making amongst group members. Social media is being used more and more as a the medium in which group members can communicate their ideas.

Comment: Used as a response to an initial posting on social media platforms and usually form the two way communication between users on topics in social media.

Connections: Like a Facebook Friend, Linkedin uses the word "connections" for other users who you have invited to connect with and they have accepted the connection request.

Content Management System (CMS): computer application that allows publishing, editing and modifying content from a central location.  CMSs are quite often used to run websites for companies, blogs, news and more.  Website CMS software includes Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal.

Creative Commons: a non-profit company that develops legal ways for others to share and/or build upon created content.  This company is best known for "Creative Commons Licensing" which provides standardized licensing options for content creators to choose from in how they wish their content to be accredited and/or shared publicly.

D

Delicious: A free bookmarking site that allows users to bookmark websites and have access to these bookmarks over a variety of devices or share with friends.

Digg: A news website that allows users to submit and vote on articles. Articles with the most votes end up appearing on the front page of the website.

E

Ebook: An electronic version, typically published in PDF format, of the typical paper based book found in stores. Many e-books are free from companies or individuals wishing to share the latest industry information.

Ello: Launched as an advertising free social media website created by a group of artists and designers. The platform was meant to be similar to Facebook except to be advertising free and/or sell user information.  Currently, the Ello is only accepting new users via "invite only".

Eventbrite: Internet based provider of event management and ticketing services. Eventbrite is free if you are hosting a free event.  Otherwise, Eventbrite collects a percentage of ticket revenue for those events with paid admission.

F

Facebook: The popular social media platform, founded by Mark Zuckerberg, provides users with the ability to connect with other people, companies and organizations. Great social media tool for businesses to engage their regular customers which results in increased sales.

Favicon: Normally a 16 x 16 pixel icon associated with a website that appears in a web browser's  address bar just to the left of the website address.  The favicon may appear elsewhere within a web browser including bookmarks and tabs.

Flickr: Is a photo storage website that allows users various methods to share their photos with others.

Forums: An online message board where users can start a topic through posting and comment on the initial post. Many initial topic starting posts are either a question posed for others to answer or to let others know of a great idea, product or service.

FoursquareA social network where friends connect and share their locations with others. The social media platform encourages participation by awarding badges to those with most checkins. 

Friends: Users on Facebook who are authorized by you to see your full Facebook profile and engage with you in conversation.

G

Google+: Google's social media platform, similar to Facebook, that allows users to post updates and share photos. Main differences include the ability to integrate Google+ features into Google Search (e.g. Google Authorship, etc.) to help users promote their own online content.

Google Chrome: A free web browser offered by Google.

H

Hangout: A video service provided by Google that allows users to video chat with up to 10 others at a time. Hangouts are like the Google version of a corporate video conferencing system.

Hashtag: First popularized by the social network Twitter, hashtags are used to index a message within a certain subject.  These subjects can either be a certain conversation topic or a way to follow an event. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a “#.” Example: #examplehashtag.

Hootsuite: A social media management system that lets users access to post and measure post effectiveness all in one spot for Facebook, Google+, Linkedin, Twitter and more.

HTML: HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the main programming language used to for webpages.  HTML is similar to a language used between computers to communicate with each other to describe how webpages are to look and feel.

I

Instagram:  a photo sharing application for mobile phones that allows users to take photos and apply a variety of filters to modify the look of the original picture.  Instagram also allows users to share photos not only on it's own website but with other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

L

Like: Used on Facebook and other social media platforms to show approval by clicking on usually a "thumbs up" icon without having to write anything.

Linkedin: A networking social media platform with a professional flavour that encourages business professionals to network together.

Lurker: A person online who reads discussion boards, social network postings or blogs and very rarely participates in the discussion.

M

Meme: Games or questions posted by a person to share info about themselves or views on certain topics.

MySpace: A formally popular social network that was owned by News Corporation.  MySpace was  eventually overtaken by Facebook in popularity.

N

News Feed: A continuously updated stream of content found on social media platforms. The stream of messages on user's home screens of Facebook and Twitter are great examples.

P

Permalink: A permalink is a permanent address or link of a particular post within blog or website.

Pinterest: Pinterest is an online social networking service that allows users to share images by pinning them to their boards from websites or other users within their Pinterest network. "Boards" are usually sorted by topic or subject  as determined by the user within their account.

Podcast: A recorded show that can be downloaded from a website for future listening or viewing. Traditionally, podcasts are downloaded to your portable device (e.g. iPod, Cell Phone, etc.) and taken with you on the go.

Prime Spoon: A regular user of Urbanspoon who the website administrators formally acknowledge as one of their most active members.  Prime Spoon award winners are awarded added benefits such as the ability add or editing restaurant listings without prior approval from Urbanspoon moderators.

Q

QR Code (Quick Response Code): A QR Code scanners, typically a smartphone, scan a bar code like display which causes the scanner to provide more information on the item the code is affixed to.  Typically after scanning the QR code will point scanner to a website address where the scanner's user can find more information.

R

Retweet: When another Twitter user sees your message and decides to share it to their followers with the attribution to the original message writer.

S

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Is the strategic method of optimizing a webpage to ensure it appears higher on a search engine (i.e. Google) results page. By appearing higher on a search engine's results page, the more likely it is to be chosen by a viewer to be seen.

Selfie: Self portraits usually taken by the subject themselves using a digital camera.  Popular for sharing on social media channels Twitter and Facebook.

ShareThis: A service that provides code for users to copy and paste onto their website, blog or a select number of web browsers. This website add on provides visitors with a large selection of social media platforms to share your content with others.

Skype: owned by Microsoft, this free platform is popular for it's easy to use video conferencing features. Users can also add phone plans to their account at additional cost.

Slideshare: An online social network for sharing presentations (e.g. Powerpoint, etc.) and documents (e.g. Word documents, etc.).  Slideshare allows users to share these documents either in a website or via Facebook or Twitter.

Social Media Monitoring: The process of monitoring and responding to mentions of businesses on social media.

T

Twitter: A social media platform that provides users with the ability to post messages to a maximum of 140 characters online. Users are able to follow other accounts to create a flow of messages in real time which is also known as a "stream".

U

Urbanspoon.com: an online restaurant guide geared towards restaurant customers to share their experiences through online reviews. Urbanspoon aggregates content from sources including submitted from such sources such as diner reviews contributed by users of Urbanspoon's website, journalist food critic reviews and blog reviews. Urbanspoon also provides it's services through online and mobile applications. As of June 1, 2015 Urbanspoon shut down after being purchased by Zomato in late 2014.

URL (Unified Resource List): A web address for a website. Example: www.suddcorpsolutions.com

Y

YELP!: an online business directory for customers to share their experiences through online reviews.

YouTube: A Google owned video sharing service that allows users to upload, view and share videos.

Z

Zomato: an online restaurant guide geared towards restaurant customers to share their experiences through online reviews. Zomato aggregates content from sources including submitted from suchsources such as diner reviews contributed by users of Urbanspoon's website and blog reviews. Zomato also provides it's services through both online and mobile applications. In late 2014 Zomato purchased Urbanspoon.com and integrated it's content into Zomato.com's listings. As of June 1, 2015, Urbanspoon's main portal was shut down. In February 2023, Zomato contracted to only India and United Arab Emerits (UAE) and removed any content outside those countries.

No comments:

Post a Comment