Glossary

blog Short for web log, a shared online journal consisting of entries from the site’s owner or creator.

board On Pinterest, an online corkboard where images and videos can be virtually pinned.

bookmark A means of identifying a web page for future viewing or sharing with other users.

connection On LinkedIn, a professional contact or “friend.”

cyberbullying A form of personal intimidation conducted using social media, mobile phones, and other electronic technologies. Cyberbullies make deliberate and repeated posts that seek to embarrass, humiliate, manipulate, or harm the recipient.

discussion forum See message board

event On Facebook, a scheduled activity, much like an item on a personal schedule.

Facebook The largest social networking site on the Web, Facebook was launched in 2004 and currently has close to 2 billion users.

fake news Manufactured stories or posts that present lies and misleading information as if they were actual news stories.

flame war A heated or hostile interaction between two or more people in an online forum.

Flickr The Web’s largest photo-sharing site, with features for both amateur and professional photographers.

follow How you connect to other users on various social media sites. When you follow a person, his or her new posts display in your feed or on your home page.

friend On a social network, another user with whom you communicate. Most social networks enable you to create lists of friends who are authorized to view your posts, photographs, and other information.

friending The act of adding someone to a social network friends list.

Friendster One of the earliest social networking websites. Launched in March 2002, Friendster (www.friendster.com) enjoyed a brief period of success before being supplanted by Facebook and other modern social media.

Goodreads A website and social community for book lovers and avid readers.

Google+ Google’s social network that was introduced in June 2011.

group On Facebook, a topic- or activity-oriented community page where people interested in a given topic or activity can view information and photos, exchange messages, and engage in online discussions about that topic or activity. On the LinkedIn site, it’s a user forum dedicated to a topic of mutual interest.

hashtag A means of indicating an important word in a tweet, similar to identifying a keyword. Hashtags start with a hash character (#) followed by a word or phrase with no spaces. When you click or tap a hashtag, other posts with that hashtag are displayed. (Hashtags can also be used on other sites, such as Instagram and Pinterest.)

identity theft A form of fraud in which one person pretends to be someone else, typically by stealing personal information, such as a bank number, credit card number, or Social Security number. The intent of identity theft is often to steal money or obtain other benefits.

Instagram A photo-sharing app and social network that enables smartphone users to shoot and share pictures and short videos.

instant messaging A means of conducting a one-to-one text communication in real time over the Internet or a closed computer network.

keyword A word in a search query that describes something you’re looking for.

LinkedIn A social network for business professionals.

malware Short for malicious software, any computer program designed to infiltrate or damage an infected computer. Computer viruses and spyware are the two most common types of malware.

media-sharing network A social network that enables the sharing of various types of media files (photographs, videos, and music) with other users.

message board An online space where users can read and post messages on a given topic. Many websites offer message forums for their members.

microblogging service A web-based service, such as Twitter or Tumblr, that enables users to post short messages to interested followers in a blog-like format.

micropost A short post to a microblogging site.

mobile app An application for a smartphone or tablet that performs a specific function. Most social networks offer mobile apps for major mobile platforms.

mobile messaging media Mobile apps that enable person-to-person text, photo, and/or video messaging in a social setting.

MySpace Launched in 2003, the leading social network site until the rise of Facebook.

news feed On a social network, a collection of posts or status updates from a person’s friends.

Page On Facebook, a page for fans or followers of an entertainer, celebrity, company, or product.

photo album On Facebook, a collection of digital photographs or videos organized by some underlying theme or topic.

photo-sharing site A website where users can upload, store, and share digital photographs with other users.

photostream On Flickr, a feed of photos from a given user.

pin An item that has been virtually attached to a Pinterest board. The act of placing a pin onto a Pinterest board is called pinning.

Pinterest Launched in March 2010, a visual social network. Users “pin” interesting images on virtual boards, which are then shared with online friends and followers.

profile A collection of personal information, including photos, contact information, likes and dislikes, and recent posts for a member of a social networking site. The profile page (on Facebook, presented as a “timeline” of activity) serves as a member’s home page on a social networking site.

reddit A social bookmarking service, launched in 2005, that enables users to submit web pages and other content and then rate that content with “up” and “down” voting.

repin The act of pinning an item that another user has previously pinned to the Pinterest site.

retweet A tweet forwarded to other Twitter users.

RSS feed A format used to automatically publish or syndicate website updates. Users subscribe to a site’s feed and then receive updates to that site, typically through some sort of news reader software or website. (RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication.)

Skype One of the most popular video chatting services, owned by Microsoft.

smartphone A mobile phone with advanced computer-like capability, typically including Internet access and the ability to run task-specific apps.

Snapchat A mobile social network that enables the sharing of pictures and videos that are automatically erased ten seconds after viewing.

social bookmarking service A web-based service, such as reddit and StumbleUpon, that helps users bookmark and share popular websites, web pages, and articles.

social game A game played on a social network or online gaming site between users of that site.

social media Websites, services, and platforms that people use to share experiences and opinions with each other. The most common social media include social networks, social bookmarking services, and microblogs.

social network A website, such as Facebook or LinkedIn, where users can form communities with like-minded people and share details of their lives with friends, family, fellow students, and co-workers.

spyware A malicious software program that obtains information from a user’s computer without the user’s knowledge or consent.

status update A short post from a member of a social networking site, conveying the user’s current thoughts, actions, and such.

StumbleUpon Another popular social bookmarking service, which augments its bookmarks and thumbs-up, thumbs-down ratings with a personalized recommendation engine that suggests web pages to visit based on a user’s ratings of previous pages.

subreddit A topic-oriented community on the reddit site.

tag The act of identifying a friend in a status update or uploaded photo.

tumblelogs The genesis of Tumblr’s name. Microblogs were initially called tumblelogs (or tumbleblogs).

Tumblr A microblogging service, launched in 2007, which enables users to post short text or image messages to their own “tumbleblogs,” which other users can then follow online.

tweet A short, 140-character post on the Twitter social media network. Also used as a verb, “to tweet.”

Tweeter Someone who tweets on Twitter, also known as a Twitterer.

Twitter A popular microblogging service, launched in 2006, where users post short text, photo, and video messages (“tweets”) of no more than 140 characters which other users can then follow.

unfollow To no longer follow a given person on a social network.

video chat A real-time, face-to-face chat between two people, using their computers or smartphones and built-in cameras or webcams.

viral Achieving immense popularity via word of mouth on the Internet.

website community A website designed to promote a community around a specific topic. Most website communities feature topic-specific articles and other content, along with discussion boards, chat rooms, and the like.

WhatsApp One of the most popular mobile messaging services.

YouTube The Internet’s largest video-sharing community, where members upload and view millions of video files each day.