Social media shorthand is amazing, extensive and at time wholly overwhelming.
In fact, the acronyms alone are enough to push even the mildest mannered person to breaking point.
As part of our Social Media Dictionary blog series, we’ve collated the ultimate list of social media-specific acronyms to keep you ahead of the game.
AFAIK: As far as I know
AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
A marketing concept that outlines how social media should be used:
- Attention – building awareness.
- Interest – encouraging users to join your community.
- Desire – through communication and engagement.
- Action – creating relevant content and calls-to-action.
AMA: Ask me anything
Most notably used on Reddit, “ask me anything,” refers to crowdsourced Q&A sessions.
API: Application Programming Interface
The mechanism that connects one backend system to another allowing for communication across platforms and channels.
ASL: Age, sex, location
B/C, BC: Because
B2B: Business to business
B2C: Business to consumer
B4: Before
BFF: Best friends forever
Aww.
BRB: Be right back
CMGR: Community manager
A community manager nurtures customers and key members of an online community.
CMS: Content Management System
The backbone of content management; a central place to create and manage content. For example: WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
CPC, PPC: Cost per click, Pay per click
An advertising acronym; essentially you pay for each click on your online ads.
CR: Conversion rate
Conversion rate is the measure of action. It looks at things like views, engagement, or purchases. Tracking conversions is the best way to demonstrate return on investment.
CRO: Conversion rate optimisation
Strategy employed to increase conversions!
CTA: Call to action
A highly actionable instruction.
CTR: Click-through rate
The number of people who click on a link.
CX: Customer experience
BAE: Before anyone else
A term of endearment for your loved one.
DM: Direct message
Communications that are conducted privately, not on the public interface of a social media platform.
DFTBA: Don’t forget to be awesome
ELI5: Explain like I’m five
A request for a simple explanation of a complex topic. Popular on Reddit.
ESP: Email service provider
Providers that host email marketing services on their servers.
F2F: Face to face
FB: Facebook
FBF: Flashback Friday
Same as Throwback Thursday, it’s about nostalgic posts, on a Friday! #FBF, #FlashbackFriday.
FF: Follow Friday
A trend that started on Twitter, FF lets users make recommendations of accounts worth following.
FOMO: Fear of missing out
FTW: For the win
An exclamation of excitement; but more often used sarcastically.
G+: Google Plus
GA: Google Analytics
Google’s web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic and important social media metrics.
HBD: Happy birthday
HTH: Happy to help/here to help
HTML: Hyper text markup language
The coding language used to build websites.
ICYMI: In case you missed it
IG: Instagram
IM: Instant message
Facebook Chat is the most popular and common version of IM around today.
IMO/IMHO: In my opinion/In my humble opinion
Distinguishing opinion from fact.
IRL: In real life
IKR: I know, right?
Communicates agreement with a statement.
JIC: Just in case
KPI: Key performance indicators
A business metric used to determine success.
LI: LinkedIn
LMK: Let me know
LMS: Like my status
A request for followers to Like a status.
MCM: Man Crush Monday
Hashtagged on all social platforms as: #ManCrushMonday or #MCM
MT: Modified Tweet
If a manual Retweet is edited, use MT to signify the original author’s words have been altered.
NSFW: Not safe/suitable for work
Content is sensitive or unsuitable for a work environment, most often in relation to nudity or profanity.
OOTD: Outfit of the day
Popular on Instagram #OOTD, as the name suggests, is all about showcasing daily fashion.
P2P: Peer to peer
PM: Private message
The same as DM. Communications conducted away from the public interface.
POTD: Photo of the day
Popular on Instagram as a way for users to show off their best images.
PV: Page views
The number of times a web page or certain content has been viewed.
QOTD: Quote of the day
Used for sharing a funny or inspirational quotation.
ROI: Return on investment
The benefit of your investment, divided by the cost of your investment. A great way to demonstrate effectiveness.
RT: Retweet
A Tweet that is re-shared to the followers of another user’s Twitter account.
RSS: Rich site summary
A format for syndicating web content to large audiences. Commonly used for blogs and by the media.
RTD: Real-time data
SaaS: Software as a service
Sometimes referred to as web-based or hosted software, it allows you to log in and run an application on your web browser. For example, Hootsuite.
SEM: Search engine marketing
Buying traffic. Paid search listings mean your site will appear ideally high ranking on search engines like Google.
SEO: Search engine optimisation
Focused on organically growing search engine ranking by optimising elements of your website or digital behaviours.
SERP: Search engine results page
The list of results you get in response to a search query in a search engine like Google.
SFW: Safe or work
Content is suitable for a work environment.
SM: Social media
SMB: Small to medium sized business
Also known as SME (small to medium enterprise). Small business is usually defined as a business with fewer than 100 employees; medium size, between 100 and 999 employees.
SMH: Shaking my head
Conveys frustration or disbelief.
SMP: Social media platform
SMM: Social media marketing
SMO: Social media optimisation
Maximising the efficiency of social media marketing strategy.
SOV: Share of voice
Looks at the percentage of mentions within a discussion or industry are about your brand.
SoLoMo: Social, local, mobile
Refers to the convergence of social media, location-based search and mobile devices.
SRP: Social relationship platform
A platform that allows you to monitor your performance on social media, Hootsuite for example.
TL;DR: Too long; didn’t read
When someone hasn’t read what you’ve written but wants to reply anyway. Also used to give a brief synopsis of a post or article.
TBH: To be honest
TBT: Throwback Thursday
Posting images from the past on Thursdays: #ThrowbackThursday, #TBT.
TOS: Terms of service
The rules for a particular service.
TW: Twitter
UGC: User generated content
Any content created by users of an online system.
UI: User interface
The means by which a user and a computer system interact.
URL: Uniform resource locator
A web address.
UX: User experience
A user’s experience with a product, service or interface. A great UX depends on UI!
YOLO: You only live once
Used jokingly and also literally, often associated with risky behaviour.
YSK: You should know
YT: YouTube
WCW: Woman Crush Wednesday
Share female crushes are on Wednesday: #WomanCrushWednesday, #WCW.
WOM: Word of mouth
Passing information from one person to another, important on social channels.
