The Basics: 17 Must Learn Terms For Social Media Beginners
If you’ve ever traveled the world or been a toddler, you already know how frustrating it can be to not speak the language. Seemingly simple tasks become more difficult without knowing the necessary words to properly express yourself. The same is true with social media and online marketing. Keeping up with the lingo is as important as keeping up with the technology. To that end, we offer you a short glossary of terms to familiarize yourself with in order to get the most of out of your online efforts.
Stay tuned, as we will update this glossary from time to time with more terms.
App – Short for “application,” apps perform a particular task and can be accessed through your computer or smart phone.
Blog – A regularly updated website or “web log,” on which an individual, business, or group of users post opinions, information, and content.
Content – Text, pictures, video, and audio material posted to any website, blog, or social-media platform.
Domain Name – The identifying name or address of an Internet site (i.e., www.akzomedia.com).
Facebook – The largest and most popular of the major social-media sites. Facebook has more than 500 million users and is increasingly used by businesses, as well as individuals.
Feed (RSS Feed) – An RSS Feed is the process through which content is syndicated online. RSS (commonly defined as Really Simple Syndication) is the program a website uses to provide subscribers with new posts and articles without them having to visit the site.
Groups – Communities within social-media sites that allow users interested in particular topics and activities to share information, posts, and messages with other members.
LinkedIn – Launched in 2002, LinkedIn is the largest business-oriented social-media site and has more than 70 million registered users. LinkedIn gained popularity among professionals looking to network within their communities and industry.
Links – Highlighted text on a website that, when clicked, opens up another page containing related content or source materials.
Profiles and Pages – The web pages on social-media sites where a registered person or business is able to display their contact information, bio, pictures, posts, and files.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – The process of improving and increasing the traffic a website receives from search-engines, such as Google or Bing.
Social Media – Websites offering a platform through which like-minded communities can communicate and engage with one another online.
Social Networking – The act of networking through social-media sites, such as Facebook or LinkedIn, that allow you to create a page and contact other members.
Twitter – Popular micro-blogging site where members post “tweets” or messages of 140 characters or less to share with fans and followers.
Wall – The shared portion, or discussion board, displayed on social-media sites.
Widget – An application offered through a social-media site or blog that performs a specific function, allowing users to better customize their profiles or blog.
WordPress – A blog-publishing platform offering users an easy-to-use, template-based process for building and maintaining their own blog.
