Social Media Terminology

We provide the definitions of some of the most common social media terminology below to help our clients better understand the terms we use in our conversations and analytic reports. Clicks on the icons above to navigate the page. We have listed below the current most common terms used on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram; knowing these terms change and morph with use and time:

Sonoma County Social Media

Twitter is a micro-blogging service. You have 140 characters to broadcast your message to the public. Your messages are ‘opt in’ messages, meaning other Twitter users are able to see your messages as you update them by ‘following you’. Twitter is a great social media resource for promoting your business, product, providing timely customer service, and developing relationships with potential customers.

  • Tweet-A tweet is your 140-character message and a list of your tweets shows in your profile view and pushes to your followers.
  • Home- The home view of your Twitter account shows tweets from all the people you are following. This view also gives you the ability to see your mentions, lists, activity, searches and lists.
  • Handle_This is your “username” on Twitter that appears with an @ symbol in front of it.
  • Timeline- Your timeline is visible on your homepage and it shows all of the Tweets from people you have decided to follow; most recent tweets always show first.
  • Follow- If you are interested in reading someone’s tweets or in developing a relationship with them, you can follow them on Twitter and their updates will appear in your timeline. Followers also appear in a list in your profile view above your tweets.
  • Followers-The people that have chosen to follow you will appear in right-hand sidebar and your tweets will be visible in their timeline. Followers also appear in your profile view as a list above your tweets.
  • @reply- The ability to send a message and reply to interesting Tweets. You use the @ sign followed by the Twitter username of the person you want to send a reply to. This is a public reply and appears in the users timeline even if they are not a follower. This terminology is also known as @messages or @mentions.
  • Retweets- A retweet is reposting of another person’s tweet if you have found it interesting or want to help promote their product, company or cause.
  • #Hashtags- A hash tag is used to add context to your Tweet within a theme, event, company, brand, or product. Using hashtags is important because people use these as search terms and your tweet will appear in more timelines that just your followers. Although these were originally created by Twitter, hashtags are now used on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, Vine, and Tumblr.
  • Lists- Lists are a good resource for segmented your profile into relevant topic areas; they are a good resource for narrowing the scope of interest of your tweets or to bring specific interest to an area of interest.  Tweets that are topical to the list will appear in the lists timeline.
  • Favorites-Tweets that you have deemed your favorites will be saved in this category on your Profile view, this is like a Facebook “LIKE”.
  • Profile- The profile view differs from the Home view in a number of features; profile view shows both yours and your followers tweets, whereas home view shows only your tweets. The menu in both views differ slightly and offer different options.
  • Shorturls- With only 140 characters you need to be innovative and succinct to get your point across, so a shortened URL is very helpful and with services such as ww.bit.ly, analytics are built in to track the response from your shortened urls.
  • Searches- You have the ability to search on Twitter by topic, person, company, brand, or event, you name you can search for it. Your saved searches appear in the menu area in your Home view.
  • Mentions-Including someone’s handle in your tweet gives that person a notification that they’ve been mentioned.
  • Direct Message-The only way to talk to someone privately on Twitter. You can create these by either starting your tweet with “DM” or going to someone’s profile and using the “message” function.
  • Trends-The most common hashtags at present time are considered trends. They can also be made to be location specific.
  • Connect-A tab where all mentions, replies, retweets, and favorites can be found.
  • Discover-A tab search for hashtags, handles, and keywords.
  • Verified Account-This is used to establish authentic handles of key or public figure and brands.
Sonoma County Social Media

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn helps you connect to your trusted contacts and exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities developing a broader network of professionals.

  • Connections- Connections are people you invite or people who have invited you to become part of their network. There are 3 degrees of network connections on LinkedIn.
  • Network-People in your network are called connections. Your network is made up of 1st-degree, 2nd-degree, and 3rd-degree connections and fellow members of LinkedIn groups your belong to.
  • 1st-degree- These are people you’re directly connected to because you have accepted their invitation to connect or they have accepted your invitation.
  • 2nd-degree- These are people who are connected to your 1st-degree connections. You will see a 2nd degree icon next to their name in search results and on their profile. You can contact them through InMail or through an introduction.
  • 3rd-degree- These are people are connected to your 2nd-degree connections. You will see a 3rd degree icon next to their name in search results on their profile. You can contact them through InMail or through an introduction.
  • LinkedIn Groups- These are people considered part of your network because you are members of the same group. This is a simple way of contacting people you would like to connect with without an introduction because you are part of the same group. You can contact them by sending a message on LinkedIn or using the group’s discussion feature.
  • Invitation- A request is made by a contact sent by one user to another, describing a possible project, connection, or opportunity.
  • Profile- Your profile is your public face on LinkedIn; this is what others find when locate you through a search.
  • Recommendation- A recommendation is a short comment written by a connection for another about the work done by the connection for a company or person. The recommendation is visible to all users who can see the endorsee’s profile.
  • Twitter- You can tweet your LinkedIn status to your Twitter followers or automatically post your tweets as your LinkedIn status or both.
  • Company Pages- A Company Page is like a LinkedIn profile for a company. Company Pages are a great way to research companies, follow them to stay updated, or review their products or services.
  • Answers- LinkedIn Answers is one of the best places to share your industry knowledge. Or ask a question and get fast, accurate answers from your network and other experts worldwide. Answers are also a great place to showcase your knowledge, expertise and interests while answering questions.
  • Applications– Give your profile extra depth by using 3rd party applications that integrate with LinkedIn such as; Box.net, Google Presentations, Slideshare, Tweets, Events, WordPress, and more.
  • Ads- Reach 120 million business professionals worldwide with a targeted LinkedIn ad.
  • Update-Status updates and content that you post.
  • Mention-Just like Facebook and Twitter, you can mention other people in your LinkedIn updates.
  • Introduction-A way of introducing yourself to those you are not currently connected to through one of your connections.
  • Groups-These can be public or private groups, and they can be created by an individual or company. It allows users to come together and talk about specific topics that they have in common on one page.
  • Influencers-Key and influential people in your industry that can provide you with great content.
  • LinkedIn Today-A source of updates about your industry in one place.
  • Endorsements-When a connection endorses you for one of your listed expertise.
Sonoma County Social Media Marketing

Facebook is the largest of the social networks and boasts more than 500 million active users, Facebook has become a favorite destination for people, businesses, and organizations to connect and share information because of its easy-to-use interface and interactive features.

  • Admin- An Admin is a person who’s in charge of a group or Facebook business page. When you create a group you are automatically listed as both an admin and the group’s creator. Admins can edit information and content on the business page or group page.
  • Ads- Users can create Facebook ads to market their product or company.
  • Applications- Users can add application to their profile, page or group. Applications are built by Facebook and also built by external developers.
  • Boosted Post-One of the easiest ways to promote information to people who have liked your business page or a targeted audience that your choose by demographics.
  • Causes- An advocacy group or online campaign for a collective cause.
  • Chat- A feature that allows users instant message with friends who are online on Facebook.
  • Comment-A comment made on a post.
  • Cover Photo-The 851×315 pixel image found at the top of your profile or business page.
  • Display Ads-An ad you create that is shown on the right-hand side of a Facebook page along with other ads.
  • Engagement-The number of likes, comments, shares and post clicks you have received from a post.
  • Event- A calendar-based function that users can add to their profiles, pages, and groups letting them share news about upcoming conferences, workshops or social gatherings.
  • Facebook Connect- A single-sign on service that enables Facebook users to login to affiliated websites using their Facebook account and share information from those sites with their Facebook friends.
  • Fans-Are people that have liked your business page.
  • Filters- Used to separate friends into different categories. Create your own filters using Friend Lists. You can also filter by applications, like Photos.
  • Friend- A person who has joined a profile, usually by invitation.Friend-Finder- A Facebook utility that helps users find present and former friends, family, coworkers, schoolmates, and other acquaintances.
  • Gifts- Virtual tokens of appreciation one member gives to another.
  • Group- A group is a Facebook page that can be public or private and are used for people coming together to talk about specific subjects in one place.
  • Inbox- The Facebook mail application.
  • Insights- For each Facebook page, Insights tracks the number of page views, unique views, total interactions, wall posts, discussion topics, fans, new fans, removed fans, reviews, photo views, audio plays, and video plays.
  • Like- A feature that appears as a link next to something you see on Facebook that allows others know they appreciate something, whether a video, comment, company or product.
  • Link-A post that includes a clickable url.
  • Member- A person who has joined and participates in a group.
  • Message-Private messages between connected friends on Facebook.
  • Mini-Feed-A Mini Feed centers around one person. Each person’s Mini Feed shows what has changed recently in their profile and what content (notes, photos, etc.) they’ve added. Mini Feeds are sent automatically and posted to friends’ profiles for all to see.
  • Network- A circle of friends that centers on a city, school, company or military organization.
  • News Feed-Your news feed is the first thing you see when you login into Facebook.
  • Multimedia Post-A post that includes an image or video.
  • News Feed- News Feeds highlight what’s happening in your social circles on Facebook and are posted to profiles for all to see.
  • Notifications- Notifications are like mini feeds and are from friends, sent automatically as they engage in activity on their profile.
  • Page- The features and capabilities of pages are different. It is a Facebook site intended for and created by artists, musical groups, celebrities, businesses, brands and similar entities (not individuals).
  • Page Like-When a fan LIKES your business page, anything you post or update can show up in their news feed.
  • Photos- A Facebook application that lets users upload albums of photos, tag friends, and comment on photos.
  • Post-A term for sharing content on Facebook.
  • Post Clicks-The number of people who clicked on anything in your post; this can be an image, link or a call to action.
  • Profile- A profile is intended for and created by people who want to share information about themselves and socialize with others. A profile displays a user’s personal information and their interactions with friends. Each registered user may have only one profile.
  • Profile Picture-A picture that best represent you or the logo for your business.
  • Publisher- Use publisher to publish your status, photos, notes and more into the stream. Posts show up both in your profile, and on your friends’ home pages.
  • Reach-The number of people who saw your page post. This is the number of people you reached through organic and boosted posts.
  • Sponsored Story-This is a message that comes from a friend about them engaging with a page, app, or event that a business, organization or individual has paid to highlight.
  • Status- A micro-blogging feature called which allows users to inform their friends of their current whereabouts, actions, or thoughts.
  • Tabs-These are found underneath your cover photos and can include friends, fans and third-party apps on personal pages and Pinterest,Google+, Menus, Reviews and more on business pages.
  • Tag- Tags mark a photo or video with text that identifies the image or person in the image.
  • Text Only Posts-A post without an image, video, or link. We don’t usually don’t suggest text posts because the engagement is low.
  • Timeline-The stream of updates on your personal profile page or business page.
  • Updates- News feeds sent to you from pages that you have joined.
  • Video- A Facebook application allowing users to share videos on Facebook. You can add videos with the service by uploading video, adding video through Facebook Mobile or using the web recording feature.
  • Wall- A featured section inside a Facebook profile. It’s a space on every user’s profile page allowing friends and users to post messages for all to see.
Sonoma County Social Media

Pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually share, and discover new interests by posting, known as ‘pinning’ on Pinterest, images or videos to their own or others’ boards, usually a collection of ‘pins,’  with a common theme, and browsing what other users have pinned. Pinterest has grown in popularity in a short time because it is so visual and draws as much traffic as Twitter and LinkedIn combined.

  • Pins-An image uploaded (“pinned”) from any webpage or your own computer to a Pinterest board. All pins link back to their original source, so make sure you choose the right webpage.
  • Pinner-The person behind the pins.
  • Repin-The act of sharing someone else’s pin.
  • “Like”-This functions just as a Facebook “like” or a Twitter “Favorite” does. It tells the pinner you enjoyed what they pinned.
  • Board-A grouping of pins under a category you’ve created. It allows you to organize your thoughts, images, and websites.
  • Mention-Just like on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, you can mention another pinner in a post. They will also get a notification about the pin.
  • Follow-The act of following other pinners or just a couple of their boards. They do not have to follow you back for you to be able to follow them.
Sonoma County Social Media Marketing

Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them either publicly or privately on the app, as well as through a variety of other social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr.

  • Post-A post refers to an image uploaded to Instagram. a post can also include a caption, a geo tag, and also tag users.
  • Like-Instagram is based on receiving likes and liking other people’s photos like other social networking sites.You might like an image by double tapping the image itself or by clicking the like button at the bottom of the image.
  • Username-Often referred to as your handle, your username is the name of your account and unique to you. If helps people find you and is the address to view your profile online at on Instagram.
  • Follow-Much like all other social networking sites Instagram is based on followers. A follower is a user who follows your account and sees every photo you publish on their feed.
  • Bio-This is a  area designated for writing small description about yourself or your brand. You can tell a lot from how a bio is written about the person or company.
  • Filters-Filters are special to Instagram. Before Instagram because a social sharing site it was used by many people to adda vintage look to photos. There are 20 filter which you can combine to create different looks; including exposure, color balance, contrast, add frames, or for just plain editing.
  • Hashtags-Same as the hashtag developed and used on Twitter it can be used to create trends, do geo-location, and more.
  • Caption-One of the most important features of Instagram and a must for adding to photos to create engagement, it can be combined with a hashtags to designate relevant subject matter.
  • Comments-A user comment about your photo.
  • Feed/Gallery/Album-Many refer to  user’s collection of photos posted to their profile as their feed, gallery, or album.
  • Posts-How many photos you or another user have posted in total, it’s a good indication how long someone has been on Instagram.
  • News Feed-Accessed by your home button on the Instagram app, this shows a feed of the images from those you follow as they are uploaded.
  • Personal Activity Feed-The activity tab will show you when a user likes or comments on one of your photos, when you are mentioned in ca comment, when your photos is posted or tagged.
  • Following-This shows a feed of photos that people your are following have liked or commented on.
  • Explore-This is the tab for searching and discovery with Instagram.
  • Suggested Users-These are users that are recommended to someone creating a new profile on Instagram.
  • Private or Public Profile-When signing up for Instagram you choose whether your profile is private or public.Public profiles can be viewed by anyone where as private profiles require acceptance of a request to follow.
  • Instagram Direct-This allows you to send a photo to a single user or group privately.
  • Geotag-A geotag is the location attached to an image which coo responds to a longitude and latitude on a map.
Sonoma County Social Media Marketing

Google+ is a Google social networking project. The Google+ design team sought to replicate the way people interact offline more closely than is the case in other social networking services, such as Facebook and Twitter. The project’s slogan is “Real-life sharing rethought for the web.”

  • Profile-This is the landing page that displays your profile picture, the information you’ve provided, and the content you’ve posted to Google Plus.
  • Page-Similar to a profile, a Google Plus Page is created by a business or a brand.
  • +1 Button-This functions as a Facebook “like” button does. The +1 button allows users to indicate they appreciated your content.
  • Share-This button, which looks like an arrow, allows others to share your content on their Google Plus Streams.
  • Comment-This one’s easy…people can comment on your content.
  • Tag-When mentioning an individual or business in your Google Plus content, make sure to tag them. When you do, they get a notification that you have mentioned them. This feature operates like it does on Facebook, so before typing the person or businesses name, include the “@” symbol. This will produce a drop-down box that will change based on the letters you type. Find the person you are trying to tag and click on their name.
  • Google Plus Streams-This is your view when you log in to Google Plus. It shows the stream of content posted from others in your circles.
  • Circles -These are the categories you create to organize your followers and the people you follow. These categories can be anything you’d like them to be, but the most common examples include “Family,” “Friends,” “Work,” “Local Businesses” etc. When posting content, you can choose to expose your content to the public, your Circles, or Extended Circles.
  • Extended Circles -These are tricky because just like Facebook’s algorithm, we’re not quite sure how Google decides who to show your extended content to. Essentially, by sharing your content with your Extended Circles, your “friends of friends” MAY see your content.
  • Local-This one is huge for you and your business because 97 percent of consumers search for local businesses online. This means that your business information needs to be readily available to all search engines. A Local Google Plus Page allows your customers to find your hours, address, and phone number all in one place. This information is displayed within a Google Search, so you want to make sure your information is accurate and up to date.
  • Hangout-A Hangout is a video chat with up to 10 people at one time.
  • Hangout on Air (HOA)-This is a Google Hangout that is “broadcasted” (on air), and can be watched both live on your Google Plus Page or after the Hangout. The finished product can be found on both your Google Plus Page as well as your YouTube page, which makes Hangout’s on Air a perfect content marketing platform for customer promotions via social media, email, and website.
  • Communities-Google Plus Communities are created by brands or individuals to encourage conversations and share information around one specific topic or service.
  • Google Plus Bar-The Google Plus Bar is the gray bar that lives at the top of any Google property with your image and a drop-down arrow. This function allows you to share content from other Google properties to your Google Plus Page quickly.