As we diligently work to stay abreast of social media trends, we found some great sources that define social media terms that are particularly beneficial for businesses. The information below are a combination of two sources that are at the cornerstone of social media: The Salty Waffle and Social Media Today.
What Does It All Mean? Social Media Vocab for Businesses: Part One, # thru D
# - What is the hashtag? The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.
#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.
Algorithm: An "algo" is a system that suggests pages to search engines in response to a search query.
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 mention 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.
B2B: Business to Business.
B2C: Business to Consumer.
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.
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. Champions are those folks.
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 choose your favorite solution from the crowd.
Dashboards: Dashboards give you an overview on how your properties are performing by displaying summaries of different reports as widgets on a single page. With a dashboard, you can monitor many metrics at once, so you can quickly check the health of your accounts or see correlations between different reports. Some dashboards that have free plans (and pay to upgrade plans) are Hootsuite, Netvibes, and Fliptu.
Digg: You may have to dig your 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.
DM (Direct Message): A ‘DM’ comes from the world of Twitter where 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.