Social Media Vocabulary: List of Top Terms To Know

Here is the list of words to memorize and practice outloud:

Audience

The group of people who can see the content you share online are called your audience. This includes your followers who can like, comment, or share your content. Your online audience is the group of people who are most likely to buy or use your products or services.

Backup

Backup is the storage of your virtual files and data in another location so as to preserve them in case of technical failure or malfunction. This can help you recover your documents or free storage space from your device.

Browsing

Browsing is the time you spend searching for particular information on the World Wide Web. When using your web browser such as Google Chrome or Firefox, you can search anything you need on the internet.

Clickbait

In social media content, creators can use specific words or pictures to attract the users’ attention and prompt them into clicking on their links. Clickbait is very often used in social networks like YouTube where the number of views increases because of the title given to a video. This may be positive for your channel, but since clickbait is usually deceptive, using it excessively can make you lose popularity.

Content

The information, products, videos, and all the data you share on your social networks are your content. Online content is created for different purposes, including the establishment of brand awareness and the sharing of educational or informational data. In both cases, it is often created to sell or promote products and services.

Crashing

This occurs when a software application or any other computer program fails to function properly and stops. The seriousness of a crash depends on the status of the operating program. If it is a key part of the system, it may result in the crash of the entire system, often causing a fatal error.

DIY websites

DIY stands for Do It Yourself. DIY websites create content for the purpose of helping people to do things on their own. This mainly includes assembling furniture, fixing household appliances, or creating your own custom decorations.

Database

Any organized information controlled by a management system in a computer is considered a database. A typical company database may comprise tables of a set of information on products, employees, and other records.

E-commerce

This term is used to refer to the electronic buying and selling of products and services. It also includes the financial transactions and the transfer of data. E-commerce has many models, for example, consumer to consumer (C2C), when goods or services are sold to another consumer, or consumer to business (C2B), when a person sells goods to a business organization.

Feed

Your feed, or your news feed, is the continuously updated page you see on a social media website. Content is renewed automatically every time you refresh your feed without human interference.

Filtering

Online filtering refers to the blocking of unwanted content on the web. This can be in the form of pop-up ads, viruses, specific websites, or unwanted file downloads. Filtering allows you to have control over the data that is displayed on your screen.

Follower

A follower is a person who can see the content you share on your social medium. Once the content is shared, he or she will be able to react to your social media posts which are most likely to appear on their feed.

GIF

A GIF, short for Graphics Interchange Format, is a concept developed by a computer scientist in which animations are shown for a few seconds. GIFs are frequently used in chat rooms and comments. If you are angry, why not use the famous frowning baby face GIF and let people know exactly how you feel.

Hacking

Hacking refers to the unpermitted access to and control over a computer system, often for the purpose of stealing or destroying it. Malicious activity may be carried out if a hacker has access to your files or your internet data, such as the theft of your credit card details in case you’d purchased a product online.

ISP

ISP, which stands for Internet Service Provider, is a company that gives you access to the internet by the transfer of data into devices. Nowadays, ISPs also offer a wide range of services, such as TV and mobile phone subscriptions.

Inbox

When accessing your email account, your inbox holds the list of emails you received from other users. Inbox has also become a verb: if you wish to talk to your friends, you can now inbox them.

Likes

What used to be referred to as ‘favorite’ before is now called ‘likes.’ In social media marketing, likes are the reactions of users to content found online. Liking may help in increasing the popularity of a product or service.

Meme

Meme refers to the images, photos and videos, or texts shared on the internet to spread a specific idea, style, or behavior. Memes can circulate very quickly from user to user in social networks, blogs, and other platforms.

PV

PV is short for Page Views, which refers to the number of pages clicked on a website. PVs are used in web analytics to count the amount of times a page is loaded or reloaded during a given period of time.

Penetration rate

The percentage of internet users is referred to as internet penetration rate. The number of internet consumers has increased over the last decade and is projected to rise further by 2025.

Platform

An online platform is a website which promotes or sells products and services. Both buyers and sellers are connected through these platforms. A few examples of platforms are Amazon, eBay, Airbnb, etc.

Podcasting

Podcasting is based on posting digital audio content. It often lasts longer than one hour and may be listened to by other internet users through their computers or their MP3 players. Podcasting is becoming increasingly popular, and the speakers are sometimes video recorded, as well.

Post

Posts refer to the content you upload on the internet, including texts, videos, images, and audio files. To post data is to make it available for other users, who are given access to the content you share, to see it.

Reposting

Also called sharing, reposting is sending other users or sharing content originally posted by another user on your online accounts. Reposting is quite common on websites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Reviews

After experiencing a service or purchasing a product, you can leave a review to give your feedback on your experience. Reviews can help sellers to gain more popularity and sell more products.

SEO

SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization, and it is based on the work you do so as to increase the visibility of your website on search engines and make it appear among the first links. In order to do that, you have to work on the keywords you set for your website. The more relevant your keywords are, the more likely they will show up on the first search results.

Shortcut

Along with the basic use of a mouse or a touchpad, shortcuts are another way to operate your computer with. This consists of pressing on one or more keys (often at the same time) on your keyboard, in order to run a given task. For example, holding down the Ctrl key and the C key would copy a selected text.

Software

A software is a program operating on a computer or any electronic device. An example of software is Windows or PowerPoint. Each type of software functions differently and performs specific tasks.

Trending

On social media websites, if a topic, video, or another type of content marketing is trending, it is extremely popular and widely discussed on the internet. On YouTube, for example, if a video is trending, it appears on the home page.

• Do you often use the Internet?
• When did you first use the Internet?
• About how many hours a day do you use the Internet?
• About how many hours a week do you use the Internet?
• Who uses the Internet the most in your family?
• What computer do you use to access the Internet?
• What are some security issues you must think about when you access the Internet?
• Have you ever bought something using the Internet?
• How can the internet help you learn English? Do you take advantage of this?
• How can the Internet be improved?
• How often do you use the internet?
• Do you think our lives have been improved by the Internet?
• Do you have any ideas or ambitions to start an Internet company?
• Do you think the Internet favors men or women?
• Do men and women use the internet for different purposes?
• Do you use the Internet for fun or education?
• What are some of the ways the Internet can be used for education?
• What are some of the ways the Internet can be used for entertainment?
• What are the sites you most commonly access?
• What is the best thing about the Internet?
• What problems does the Internet create? What problems does it solve?
• Which company is your Internet provider?
  • Why did you choose this company?
  • Are you satisfied with their service?
  • How much does it cost you?
• Is it expensive to access the Internet by mobile phone in your country?
• Is there too much sex on the Internet?
• Does your family have wireless Internet access in your home?
• Do you access the Internet from your mobile phone?
• What type of pages do you access with your phone?
• Do you have more many e-mail addresses?
• Why do you need more than one e-mail address?
• Have you ever chatted on the Internet?
• Is it dangerous to meet people on the Internet?
• Would you like to go on a date with someone you meet on the Internet?
• Do you think governments have the right to censor the Internet?
• Do you think that the Internet safe for children? Why
• Do you think that it is important for schools to have Internet access? Why?
• Can you believe all the information that is published (available) on the Internet?
• Do you think that people should put photos of their friends onto the Internet?
• Why is it a good idea to have books and magazines published on the Internet?
• Do you think that it is a good or bad habit for young people to play computer games?
• Why should you be careful about giving out personal information to people that you meet in chat rooms?
• Give me a reason why you think that email is a good way for people to communicate.
• Do you think that working at home using the Internet is good or bad?
• Many disreputable companies get personal information from your computer when you visit their web site. Why is this bad?
• Many people download MP3 music without paying any money for it. Do you think that this is a problem?
• Would you consider going out with someone that you met on the Internet?
• In your opinion, what is the most important feature of the Internet?
• Do you think that meeting people is easier than meeting people face to face?
• Are old people disadvantaged by today's usage of the Internet? How?
• When you buy something on the Internet, trust is very important. Why?
• Do you think that the Internet will replace Libraries?
• Do you think that online banking (being able to do most of your banking by the Internet and ATM machines) will become popular in all countries? What is a disadvantage of this.
• In many big cities it is possible to buy your groceries online and have them delivered to your home. Why has this become popular?
• Why is it illegal to download movies and music from the Internet?
• What is a computer virus and how do we protect our computers from being infected?
• How does the Internet help people from different countries to communicate with each other?
• Information on the Internet is linked together; it is not just single documents. Why is this important?
• How do we stop young children from looking at Internet sites that have inappropriate content?
• Do you think that some people spend too much time on the Internet and does this stop them from seeing their friends? Why?
• Do you think that having Internet access is mainly for rich people? Will poor people be disadvantaged?
• In some countries you can sell personal items on the Internet (E-Bay). Do you think this is a good idea?
• Many Universities are now offering online courses. Give me some reasons why this is a good thing.
• Many Universities are now offering online courses. Give me some reasons why this is a bad thing.
• If you want reliable and good information from the Internet, then you should look for sites operated by which types of organizations?
• Do you think that the Internet usage is an anti-social activity?
• E-commerce (buying and selling things on the Internet) has become very popular. Give a reason for this?
• Is it better to buy online or to go to a shop? Why?
• Why is it very important not to give out personal information on the Internet?
• Many sites require you to have ID's and passwords. Why do we need to keep these safe?
• Some web sites hold very dangerous information, for example how to make a bomb. How can we control these Web sites?
• If you give personal information to a Website do you think that they will always keep this private? Sometimes they sell this information. Is this a good or bad thing?
• Search engine are used to find information. Do you think that they always give you the best sites or do they give you sites that pay money in order to be on the top of the list?
• What is
  Copyright? How do we break
  Copyright law on the Internet?
• How can we stop students from "cutting and pasting" from the Internet when they do their assignments?
• We can use the Internet to find jobs overseas.
• If you employ someone via the Internet, how do you check if the person is giving you truthful information?
• To be current, that is to be up-to-date, is an important feature of the Internet. Why is this important and what impact is this having on society?
• Do you think the Internet is making people more impatient and that we are becoming a society were we all want instant satisfaction?
• How has the Internet changed society?
• How can the Internet help you learn English? Do you take advantage of this?