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