5 social media terms you should know
Business Technology | May 20, 2011
The majority of us are using social media these days to communicate, some of us more reluctantly than others. As the fastest growing medium in history, social media is nearly impossible to ignore. Social media terms and trends can be complicated, however, so we have a simple guide to help you navigate the murky waters.
1. Tag
Tag can refer to several different things, depending on how it is used. Often, in blogs or other content you can attach a keyword to a blog. Those keywords are known as tags. This makes it easier for search engines to register the content you post as being related to a certain topic.
Tag can also refer to the action of tagging people in pictures or posts. When Facebook photo tagging first launched, it let you tag your friends in pictures. Now it includes facial recognition, and you can even tag Brand/Product Pages in your photos.
The newest form of tagging on Facebook refers to tagging friends in posts or status updates. You can now refer to people in a post and tag them, which will alert them to your post. This will also cause the post to show up on their wall for all of their other friends to see.
2. Troll
A troll is a person who contributes to social networks with the intention of provoking others. They are the people that become fans of pages or join groups and then make comments that they know will upset other group members.
3. Friend
We all know what a friend is in the conventional sense, but in social media it can be used as a verb. When you add a person as a friend over a social network, many users refer to this as “friending” someone.
4. Stream
This is another double-meaning word. Streaming something pertains to receiving a constant flow of information, such as a webcast. A stream is what many people call their Twitter or Facebook home pages, where all of the recent information and updates are posted.
5. At mention
At mentions, or @ mentions, are used on Twitter and they are very similar to Facebook’s new tagging system for status updates. This allows you to mention someone in your Tweet and notify him or her of your post.
Although social media terms can often be confusing, this guide can certainly help clear up some of the confusion. If you’d like even more social media definitions, take a look at this article.
The majority of us are using social media these days to communicate, some of us more reluctantly than others. As the fastest growing medium in history, social media is nearly impossible to ignore. Social media terms and trends can be complicated, however, so we have a simple guide to help you navigate the murky waters.
1. Tag
Tag can refer to several different things, depending on how it is used. Often, in blogs or other content you can attach a keyword to a blog. Those keywords are known as tags. This makes it easier for search engines to register the content you post as being related to a certain topic.
Tag can also refer to the action of tagging people in pictures or posts. When Facebook photo tagging first launched, it let you tag your friends in pictures. Now it includes facial recognition, and you can even tag Brand/Product Pages in your photos.
The newest form of tagging on Facebook refers to tagging friends in posts or status updates. You can now refer to people in a post and tag them, which will alert them to your post. This will also cause the post to show up on their wall for all of their other friends to see.
2. Troll
A troll is a person who contributes to social networks with the intention of provoking others. They are the people that become fans of pages or join groups and then make comments that they know will upset other group members.
3. Friend
We all know what a friend is in the conventional sense, but in social media it can be used as a verb. When you add a person as a friend over a social network, many users refer to this as “friending” someone.
4. Stream
This is another double-meaning word. Streaming something pertains to receiving a constant flow of information, such as a webcast. A stream is what many people call their Twitter or Facebook home pages, where all of the recent information and updates are posted.
5. At mention
At mentions, or @ mentions, are used on Twitter and they are very similar to Facebook’s new tagging system for status updates. This allows you to mention someone in your Tweet and notify him or her of your post.
Although social media terms can often be confusing, this guide can certainly help clear up some of the confusion. If you’d like even more social media definitions, take a look at this article.