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Social Media Glossary

Our quick guide to some key terminology used in Social Media, we hope you find it useful:

Twitter Glossary

  • 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 eg #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 Glossary

  • Status Update – where you update your friends with details of what you’re up to
  • Friends – the people you’re connected with on Facebook (all connections are 2-way, you both need to want to connect to each other)
  • Page – the visible side of the Facebook account for brands, businesses, clubs and more. You can’t become Friends with a page, but you can “Like” a 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
  • Wall – a record of what you contribute to Facebook. (what people who stalk people of Facebook obsess over)

LinkedIn Glossary

  • 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.