Social Media Glossary
Social Media seems more complex than it is because of all the jargon, hopefully this glossary will help a bit:
Twitter:
- Followers – twitter users who are signed up to read your tweets
- Tweets – 140 character messages you post on your twitter account (these can include links)
- Re-Tweet – when you post again something someone else has tweeted already – shows in a tweet as “RT”
- Hash tags – the # sign is used to prefix certain topics e.g. #xmas, or #generalelection. This is useful if you’re part of a group discussing a certain topic, and it makes events easier to follow via Twitter Search
- @Reply – a tweet sent direct to another twitter user, for when you’re having a 1 to 1 conversation
- DM – a direct message sent from one user to another which cannot be seen by other users
- FF – Follow Friday, on a Friday users often use the hash tag #FF and suggest a list of people worth following
Facebook:
- Facebook Profile – the identity for individuals on Facebook
- Facebook Page – the identify for businesses on Facebook
- Status Update – an update provided by a Page or Profile. Might be a link, text, image or video.
- Followers – the people who’ve liked your Facebook Page.
- Timeline – the new (2012) format for Facebook Pages and Profiles. Big image at the top, updates laid out like a timeline down the page.
- Like Button – the key to Facebook success for businesses – you want people to “Like” your Facebook Page, AND to “Like” your other online content
- Poke – the old-school way to attract people’s attention on Facebook – not used a lot now
- News Feed – the centre of your Facebook universe. Where you see what’s happening with everyone else
- EdgeRank – the algorithm that decides what each person sees on their News Feed – the better you do, the more engagement you’ll have.
- Edge – anything that happens on Facebook – a status update, liking a status update, uploading an image, becoming friends with someone. These are the things that Facebook prioritises with the EdgeRank.
LinkedIn:
- Connection – someone you’re linked too (all connections are 2-way, you both need to want to connect to each other)
- Company Page – the profile of a company, where you can find out information about their staff, what they do, and other information
- Groups – the centre of activity on LinkedIn – you can join many groups and contribute to the debate. There are groups on 1000s of different subjects
- LinkedIn Today – their news service – compiles information they believe will be useful for you (based on who you’re connected to)
- Answers – the Q&A area of LinkedIn. Help someone out by answering a question, or get help by posting one.
Pinterest:
- Pins – images that have been “pinned” to boards
- Boards – online pin boards where you “pin” images you like. You can have lots of boards, so group images into themes.
- Pin It Button – the button a user adds to their browser bookmarks to pin any image they find online
- Repin – add an image you find on Pinterest to one of your boards
- Like – Like an image you find on Pinterest
- Follow – follow a board or a person on Pinterest
Google+:
- Profile – the identity for individuals on Google+
- Page or Local – the identify for businesses on Google+
- Posts – updates provided by a Page or Profile. Might be a link, text, image or video.
- Circles – a way to group together people and pages you want to connect with
- Hangouts – have a video chat with up to 9 people