Social Media Vocabulary
#FF or #followfriday: The idea behind ‘Follow Friday’ is to recommend users you believe others should follow. By tagging their username and then the hashtag #FF or #followfriday, you are signaling to your followers that you endorse these people and they are worth being followed.
#musicmonday: can be used to talk about anything music related including artists, songs, new releases, labels, concerts, you name it. It was intended to help people find new music for the week based on the recommendations of others.
#np: This was actually the top hashtag in 2010 and it stands for ‘Now Playing’. Twitterers use the hashtag to talk about music and tweet what they are listening to at the moment.
#seo: a hashtag for SEO or Search Engine Optimization related topics. A technology focused crowd follows this tag and it is a useful way to keep track of the latest in SEO straight from the experts.
#socialmedia: Simply, social media. Any tweet that has something to say on the topic of social media would be fair game for a #socialmedia tag. Being such a broad topic, it is a loud hashtag, but many follow it for the latest news.
Akismet: Akismet is our friend. It is a little bot application that filters spam comments from your site. With Akismet we don’t have to sort through all those fake comments, its kind of like the spam folder in your email account. Akismet is very popular on WordPress blogs.
API, Application Programming Interface: an interface that allows two software applications to interact more easily. By making an API available it makes it easier for developers to build associated applications. Twitter opened their API giving rise to applications like TweetDeck, Hootsuite, and others.
AstroTurfing: In honor of a great weekend of football, I had to put this one up. AstroTurfing, at least in the social media world is a tactic used by some to create a fake grassroots movement or buzz, hence the turf reference. Usually the authors are paid or otherwise incentivised to write positive reviews or content that mentions whatever product marketers are trying to get buzz for. The key is that it is not organic, Astroturf might be great for football, but fake grass has no roots!
Authenticity: is the sense that something or someone is “real”. Blogs enable people to publish content, and engage in conversations, that show their interests and values, and so help them develop an authentic voice online.
Avatar: An avatar is a name or image that represents a person on forums, social networks, and other websites. Usually a small picture or unique username.
Badoo: Badoo is a site that is also fairly popular in the United States, but is the clear number one online dating site in Canada. A profile allows you to ‘chat, flirt, and socialize.’
Blook: This one you might have been able to guess. A blook is a book or ebook that was created mostly from past blog content. Posts are collected and put together in one package and offered in a more traditional format. It usually goes the other way, but there are some popular blooks out there.
Boxee: is a social video application. People can watch videos on their TV’s using the Boxee cube device or through their computers. Those in the Boxee network share videos and can participate in reactions to the videos.
Brightkite: Brightkite allows people to check into location by text message or mobile app. You can see who is nearby and who has been at the location before. Additionally, you can attach pictures and other media to a check-in and other users can comment on those, creating a collective experience around the venue from those who have visited.
Champions: in order to get conversations started in an online community, you need a group of enthusiasts willing and confident to get things moving by posting messages, responding, and helping others.
Chompon: Chompon is a group buying platform launched out of TechCrunch Disrupt that is designed for merchants to build and host their own deals on Chompon and their own site. It looks to make creating deals easier for sellers and gives them more control over the process than before.
Club Penguin: Club Penguin is the first of a few different virtual world type of social networks that our Canadian friends enjoy. Just pay for a membership and use your penguin avatar to waddle around, meet new friends, and play online games.
Compete: Compete is a web-based application that supples business with valuable web analytics information from all kinds of sites. They focus on helping businesses find new key words for SEO, new streams of traffic, and monitoring the performance of rivals online.
Crowdsourcing refers to harnessing the skills and enthusiasm of the crowd outside an organization who are prepared to contribute content and solve problems, then you can choose your favorite solution.
Digg: You may have to dig you car out this morning, but Digg with an extra ‘g’ is a social news website that lets members vote for their favorite articles. The most popular articles rise to the top and are seen on the homepage.
Digital PR: Abbreviated press releases that include embedded links, images, and video along with short text.
Disqus: Disqus is a platform for allowing users to interact with your site. It is a comment and moderation system that is simple and easy to use. It has a large user base and is fully socially integrated.
DM (Direct Message): A ‘DM’ comes from the world of Twitterwhere the default method of communication is a public tweet. By contrast, a Direct Message is a private message from one person to another that others on Twitter cannot see.
Dynamic SEO: (search engine optimization): The result of ranking higher in organic searches for your key words through producing fresh, relevant content on your website and other social networks.
External Social Communication: Any conversations that happen on public social networks; companies would be wise to organize an External Social Communication plan, because it’s happening even if you don’t yet know what they are saying.
Eye Rest: Well, these numbers and bold type are an example of eye rest. Eye rest is a technique used in blogs to make the post easily readable andor offer more to the reader. Other examples are hyperlinks, bullets, images, and lists.
Feed: Feed isn’t just a term that applies to social media, but in the social media world it applies to areas where information form your social network gathers and is presented. For example, your Facebook feed shows you updates from friends regarding anything from events to new pictures. Feed may also refer to an RSS Feed(Really Simple Syndication) which makes it easy to publish, collect, and keep track of multiple sources of many types of content.
Flash Mob: Flash mob is a sudden gathering of people in a public place. Usually they perform something and then quickly move on. The term is typically applied to mobs that gather because of social media networking, viral emails, or for promotions put on by guerrilla marketing firms for clients. The idea here is to be viral and share the video of the flash mob performance.
Forum: also known as a message board, a forum is a site dedicated to discussion. Generally forums are themed and moderated by someone from the site. Many forums are run by large companies as another form of customer service. Users can help each other solve problems and moderators or company professionals can also easily get into the conversation and provide assistance.
Foursquare: we have talked about Foursquare a bunch in the past, but it just fit in too well here and we haven’t made it a part of our social media vocabulary section yet, so here goes.Foursquare is a location-based social network that allows users to check-in to venues and see others and get special offers. It is one of the leaders amongst geo-location based social networks.
Geotagging: is on the rise. Geotags are location-based tags attached to status updates, media, or other posts that gives GPS information on the person posting or the media. Check-ins on Foursquare and other location-based social networks are a form of geotagging.
Google Latitude: Latitude is simple, it allows those you choose to see your current location. It uses GPS technology in your phone to broadcast where you are in real-time. You can limit its accuracy and it is easy to manage who can see your location. There is also feature called Location History that allows you to see where you have been recently in addition to your current location.
Gowalla: is a location-based social network. Much like Foursquare, Gowalla allows people to share their location in real time as well as check into places and earn prizes and discounts.
Groupon: The group buying start-up that just happens to be the fastest growing company ever. Group + coupon = deals for you. They offer deals daily and as interest from businesses all around has grown, have come to offer many deals in each city.
Habbo: Habbo is yet another social network based around a virtual environment. This one puts a hotel at the center. You create and avatar and then check-in to the hotel and interact with all the other people in the network.
hi5: hi5 is a social network aimed at youth. The goal of hi5 is to be the most fun network, focusing on providing entertainment, custom profiles, and games.
HTML: stands for HyperText Markup language. HTML is the language that is considered the building blocks of the web. HTML describes web pages through tags and a browser reads those in to display what you see as the web page.
iconcertcal: This is a personal little secret of mine, but it’s starting to grow into the public eye. It is a plug-in for iTunesthat crawls through your library and then builds you a calendar of upcoming CD releases and concerts dates by your artists.
IMVU: IMVU is a social network based on a virtual world. Much like Second Life, you create an avatar and navigate a computer generated world while interacting with other people in the game. This was one of the top 10 sites in Canada in 2010.
Internal Social Communication: A company hosted social platform upon which all employees of an organization can engage; this can be a powerful change to increase efficiency in an organization.
Joomla: Joomla is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) that allows people to build websites and web applications.
Kyte: Kyte is an application for streaming and hosting live video through its online and mobile platform. They help people produce video, distribute it, engage audiences, analyze traffic, and monetize their work.
Last.fm: Can’t go without mentioning the biggest social network out there built around music. Last.fm centers on scrobbling (tracking what you listen to on your computer) your music and presenting a listening history to you and other users. It can then compare your musical taste to others, display your concert plans, and provide other social networking services like those found on Facebook.
Linkbait: Linkbait is anything the author of a blog may put into a post in terms of content to try and promote and encourage other sites to link back to it. This could be an infographic, list, video, poll, or anything that is readily shareable and intriguing. Usually the content is meant to be controversial, sensational, or otherwise attention grabbing. Links drive SEO so linkbait is a popular practice and isn’t necessarily a negative practice, though some abuse it and leave it with a bit of a negative connotation.
LivingSocial: Recently acquired by Amazon, LivingSocial seems to be a lock on second place in the group buying space behind Groupon. They offer deals by cities and also have deals on vacations and have a section catering to families and kids.
Loopt: Loopt focuses on the other people that are currently around you. The application is available for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, and Blackberry. Loopt makes it easy to share information about locations and also connects people with information from Zagat, Citysearch, and others.
Lurkers: are people who read but don’t contribute or add comments to social networks. The one per cent rule-of-thumb suggests about one per cent of people contribute new content to an online community, another nine percent comment occasionally, and the rest lurk.
Mistweet: One of those tweets you may regret. A tweet that was probably ill-advised or potentially embarrassing. It may or may not be the result of a dweet (drunk tweet).
Moblog: short for mobile blog, this is a blog done via a mobile device. Typically content is shorter, includes pictures or other captured media, geotags, and is more along the lines of micro-blogging than standard blogs. Moblogs are generally updated very often.
Moshi Monsters: Moshi Monsters is a game and social network aimed at children. You tend friendly little creatures and can communicate with others in the network. There are games, chat, and even a store to buy things for your Moshi.
Obsessive Compulsive Refresh Disorder: A potentially time consuming problem that leaves you constantly refreshing the page checking for new content.
Ongo: A powerhouse news aggregator funded by some big names like the Washington Post and The New York Times to name a couple. Ongo will aim to bring a new way of aggregating and sharing news to consumer. With the former CEO of Skypeat the helm and some superstar investors, Ongo has some early buzz and looks promising.
Pandora: a social online radio station based on the Music Genome Project. Music is played based on your likes and dislikes and the artists you enjoy listening to.
Permalink: Looking outside I keep thinking permafrost, but a permalink is link to a particular post within a blog or site. That means no matter how far down that post gets over time, the permalink will take you right to that post’s specific page.
Philo: Philo looks to capitalize on the imminent growth of social tv by offering a check-in service for television shows that allows users to see what their friends are watching and interact with them on a level not offered by other entertainment check-in apps out there.
Ping: Ping is a social network built within iTunes that is all about music. You can update friends via Ping and it also recommends new music you might enjoy.
Podcast: Podcasts have been around a long time now and it is actually exactly the same as a non-streamed webcast. Quite simply, a podcast is an audio file, usually mp3, that you can download, listen to online, or put on a media device for later playback. Radio shows often offer podcasts of their shows and many people ‘blog’ via podcast. (The term podcast took over webcast because iPods became so popular.)
Post-posting Traumatic Stress Disorder: Stress after posting something to a network. This could be a blog post, status update, or even a tweet. The pressure to make sure it is just right can be immense, thus the Post-posting stress.
Qik: is a social online video streaming service. Qik comes as an App for mobile phones and allows users to stream live video directly to the web.
Rap Genius: A very helpful site in helping to understand references from the world of hip hop. Kind of like a wikipedia for rap lyrics, the community works together to “translate” lyrics into regular language and even explain obscure references.
RT or ReTweet: When someone re-posts your tweet. This could be because they really like it and want to share it with their own tweeps. Generally, getting ReTweeted is a very good thing, especially when that tweet has a link you want people to see in it.
SCVNGR: SCVNGR is another game-based location application and social network that encourages completing challenges. Like Whrrl, it was founded in Seattle, but it focuses more on providing companies with easy ways to build challenges and games for their customers. You can earn points, post toFacebook and Twitter, and earn real-world rewards for completing adventures and check-ins.
Second Life: Second Life is a complete virtual world where people can interact, form groups, play games, and even shop, yes, with real money. There are 18 million ‘residents’ of the Second Life world.
SMO: Stands for Social Media Optimization and is an insanely broad term that applies to basically anything you do in the social media world to attract people to content. The focus is on networking and word of mouth and works for organic growth vs. pay-per-click or other paid advertising methods.
SMO: Stands for Social Media Optimization and is an insanely broad term that applies to basically anything you do in the social media world to attract people to content. The focus is on networking and word of mouth and works for organic growth vs. pay-per-click or other paid advertising methods.
Social Media Advertising: Paying for people to post articles, tweet, etc. on your behalf; paying for static advertisements on social sites, including message boards, Facebook and forums.
Social Media Anxiety: A fear of communication social media sites. Severely cripples one’s ability to communicate through social media channels and is driven by a fear of being judged poorly by peers.
Social Media Marketing: Initiating and participating in relevant conversation online in order to divert traffic to your site.
Social Network Exclusion Anxiety: A fear of being left out on a social network. Missing a conversation or not being invited to an exclusive social media driven event may create or compound this anxiety.
Splog: is short for spam blog. These are blogs that use automated systems to create fake blogs full of links and ripped off content. The idea is to garner higher search ranking, but publishers of these blogs are seen as bad guys and these sites never last long before people, or Google figure it out.
Tag Cloud: A tag cloud is a visual representation of the popularity of different tags being used on a site. A tag is a word, term, or description that helps people find relevant content by sorting it. In a tag cloud the biggest words are the most popular and vice versa.
The Hype Machine aka Hypem: This is an mp3 blog aggregator that is powered by the social community. The blog pulls in mp3 files from all over the internet and displays them on the page. As users rank and listen to the tracks they move up or down in popularity accordingly.
Tippr: This is actually a Seattle start-up that does group buying a little differently than the rest. As more people join a deal, the better it gets. It doesn’t work everywhere right now, but for the lucky ones of us that are in Seattle, Tippr is pretty cool.
Troll: There are some pretty rough definitions for so-called trolls out there, but basically a troll is a person that just really hates what you have to say on your site or blog and dedicates an unusual amount of time to arguing against your points, posting inflammatory comments, or writing ill of you or your website. You can’t really win if you pick up a troll unless you manage to turn them, but be careful, they can be powerful, scare off other readers, and poke holes in your credibility. (Justly or not)
Tubeify: created by a guy frustrated at the YouTube music video and discovery situation, Tubeify aims to make a better site for searching through music videos, building playlists, and then sharing all that via social networks. Rumor is there might be an app in the works for this year.
Tumblr: It may sound like it, but this isn’t the name of an awesome new sled. Tumblr is a site that allows users to share all kinds of content in blog, or ‘tumbling’ form. You can post links, pictures, writing, video, and even music. The service is gaining rapid popularity as of late because it so simple to use and offered for free.
Tweep: One of your twitter people. Twitter + people = Tweep! This could be a follower or a person you follow, anyone that is part of your Twitter network.
Tweet: A 140 character or less status update. A form of micro-blogging, but in the Twitter world its called a tweet. Just a short blurb about anything and everything from social media to ice cream.
TweetIn: Kind of like a Tweetup, TweetIn is a similar idea to a Twitter conference call. A bunch of Twitterers agree to meet on Twitter at a certain time and the conversation begins!
Tweetroll: a widget for your site that allows you to choose a search term, or your own twitter stream, and then display all the tweets related to that term in a scrolling box anywhere you choose to put it. Great for SEO.
Tweetup: A meet up in the Twitter world. A tweetup is a gathering, spontaneous or planned, of people that are all on Twitter. Hashtags typically spread the news about tweetups. The largest tweetup so far was in Northern Ireland with 13,000 tweeps.
Twitpic: a service that allows you to share pictures on Twitter,check it out!
Twitter Rage: Any anger stemming from a Twitter experience. Ignored tweets, slow connections, or fail whale could be the source.
Twitterati: The so-called Twitter elite. Those Twitter celebrities whose tweets go out to the hundreds of thousands and regularly make the evening news for their 140 character thoughts.
Twitterisms: all words Twitter! So any of these words and many, many more. With more to be invented I’m sure!
Twittersphere: The huge floating cloud in the sky (well, cloud somewhere in a Silicon Valley server farm) that holds everything Twitter. The Twittersphere is made up of tweeps, tweets, and tweeters.
Twoosh: A tweet that uses exactly all 140 characters! Swoosh!
Vlog: A vlog is simply a video blog. The word blog comes from weblog so with video, we smashed it all together to form vlog. Pronounced \’vl?g, ‘vläg\.
Vlog: A vlog is simply a video blog. The word blog comes from weblog so with video, we smashed it all together to form vlog. Pronounced \’vl?g, ‘vläg\.
Waze: Waze is simple, it’s a social approach to traffic. By using crowd sourced information from people driving with their mobile devices in the vehicle, the app should alert drivers quickly of slowing, detours, and accidents.
Web 2.0: Web 2.0 in its simplest definition is a description of the movement online toward collaboration, information sharing, social media, and the applications that support that.
Wheretheladies.at: This mobile app aggregates information (like gender) from location check-in apps like Foursquare and Gowalla and then points you toward groups of people, specifically ladies. Specialized location apps like this one should make splash as more people check-in and the whole process gets easier and more relevant. Imagine apps like this that point you toward parties, the happening night spots, impromptu concerts, who knows; the possibilities are endless.
Whrrl: Whrrl is a location-based network that emphasizes getting people out trying new things through a game-like interface. You become part of Whrrl societies based on real-world passions and earn points for successfully inspiring others to try something. You share your adventures by geo-tagging photos and checking-in.
Widget: these are stand-alone applications that you can embed on other applications or web pages. Functions of widgets are diverse and can do pretty much anything a programmer can build it to do. Universal widgets are especially helpful for non-technical people that can embed them in their own sites with ease and gain increased functionality. We have widgets all over our page to perform different tasks and we didn’t have to build them!
Wiki: a wiki is a web page, or group of pages that can be edited collaboratively. Wikipedia is the most well-known example of this and they have a more complex definition of a wiki if you want to delve in.
Woot: Woot may have been the first group buying site out there even though Groupon tends to get the credit for making it mainstream. Woot was founded in 2004 and sells one item every 24 hours or until they sell out. They typically offer gadgets and tech related goods.
WordPress: WordPress is an open source Content Management System (CMS) most often used for publishing blogs. It provides a simple user interface that non-technical people can use with relative ease and it works well with most web applications and widgets. It is the most popular CMS in the world. We use it here at Salty Waffle and we love it!
WordPress: WordPress is an open source Content Management System (CMS) most often used for publishing blogs. It provides a simple user interface that non-technical people can use with relative ease and it works well with most web applications and widgets. It is the most popular CMS in the world. We use it here at Salty Waffle and we love it!
Xanga: Xanga is a blog network that is said to have about 40 million members worldwide. The site hosts social profiles, weblogs, audio blogs, video blogs, and photo blogs.
Xeesm: Xeesm has developed a number of social business tools including a Social Address Book, Social Media Time Management and Social Media Management Reports. They hope to help companies and individuals build stronger relationships
Yammer: Yammer is an enterprise social network designed to be sort of an internal version of Twitter aimed at companies. It began as an enterprise microblogging platform but has developed into more a full social network. Approximately 80,000 companies and over 1 million users use Yammer as an enterprise social network.
Zo0omr: Zooomr, with yes, three o’s was started to help people share photos online. It is similar to Flickr with an additional focus on publishing your images under different Creative Commons licenses.
Zoho: Online suite of applications aimed making collaboration easier and therefore increasing productivity within businesses. Zoho features many social elements to help employees work together such as chat, discussions, wikis, and share applications.
-
Sara
