Social Media Tip: Understanding the Jargon

Social media has created a lot of jargon which can make using it intimidating because you have no clue what people are talking about. Here are a few of the basics:

• SoMe = social media
• SM = social media
• LI = LinkedIn
• FB = Facebook
• Blog = Web log
• Like = You like or are interested in the topic, conversation, article, comment, brand, or product
• Follow = Watch or monitor a person’s activity on that site
• RT = Re-tweet (on Twitter) or share with those you know
• PRT = Please re-tweet or share
• SEO = Search Engine Optimization
• SMO = Social Media Optimization
• WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get generally referring to screen to print
• IMO = In my opinion
• IMHO = In my humble opinion
• BTW = By the way
• Ezine = Digital magazine
• b/c = Because
• FWD = Forward, as in forwarding an email
• j/k = Just kidding
• Re = Reply
• @Name or @Handle = A way of calling attention to a particular person

The good news is, you will not see most of these on LinkedIn as the conversation tends to be more professional than many other social media sites. But if you do come across one that you don’t know, simply type it into a search engine and it will come up.