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IBM - Social media glossary Category: Technical and IT > Web terms Date & country: 26/01/2014, USA Words: 84

Wordpress
A free blogging tool.

Webconference
Use of the web to conduct a live meeting or presentation.

Webinar
A live or pre-recorded seminar that it aired via the Web.

Widget
A simple software application that can either be downloaded to the desktop or run through a Web site, and which often take the form of on-screen tools, such as clocks, event countdowns, auction-tickers, stock market tickers, flight arrival information, daily weather etc. For an example, download the IBM Software Business Partner Widget.

Wikipedia
A free, collaborative encyclopedia project that anyone can edit, and one of the most notable examples of a wiki.

Web Analytics
The measurement, analysis and reporting of Web data and trends. Web analytics can be used for many purposed, including search engine optimization, market segmentation and targeting, understanding usage patterns, etc.

Webcast
A live or pre-recorded broadcast of an audio or video presentation, delivered via the Web.

Vlog
A video blog, or blog that contains video entries.

Wall
On Facebook, a shared message board regarding an individual user that appears on the user's profile. A user's friends can post content, such as text, photos, or URLs, to the wall, and others can either like or comment on that content.

Web 2.0
A term describing the generation of Web media such as blogs, social networks, etc., that emphasize self-publishing, collaboration and interactive information sharing, rather than the more traditional publishing approach of Web 1.0.

Videosharing
A type of social network whereby users can upload, manage, and share video media publicly or with their networks, and comment on the videos of others. The most notable example of a videosharing site is Youtube.

Virtual Event
A live event, such as a trade show or job fair, which takes place on the Web, often in a virtual environment designed to emulate a face to face event of the same kind.

Twitterverse
The sum of all tweets and user tools in the Twitter ecosystem and the conversations taking place surrounding that ecosystem. Similar to the relationship between blogs and the blogosphere.

Typepad
A free blogging tool.

URL
Stands for Uniform Resource Locator; the technical term for a Web address, e.g. http://www.ibm.com/us/en/sandbox/ver1/

URL shortener
A Web tool that converts a long URL, e.g. http://www.ibm.com/us/en/sandbox/ver1/, into a shortened version that is easier to share. Shortened URLs are especially prevalent on microblogs such as Twitter, which only allow a limited number of characters. Examples of popular URL shorteners include Bit.ly and Tiny URL.

Twitter Handle
Another word for a Twitter username, designated by an '@'.

Twitter
A popular microblogging tool, which allows users to share updates of no more than 140 characters, also known as tweets.

Tweetup
A gathering of people, usually scheduled, who tweet on a certain topic using a single hashtag.

TweetDeck
A popular Twitter dashboard.

Tweet
A 140 character update shared through Twitter.

Trackback
A link used to facilitate communication between blogs. When one blogger refers to another blog in his or her post, if both blogs support trackbacks, then the trackback will notify the owner of the original post that the blogger has referred to his or her post.

Tiny URL
A popular URL shortener.

Thread
A strand of related messages that represent a conversation, e.g. messages on a discussion forum or a series of e-mails that use the same subject line, or a blog post and any related comments and trackbacks.

Syndication
The process of making a Web site or portions of a Web site available for rebroadcast through a feed or on another Web site.

SubjectMatter Expert
A person who is considered a leading authority on a particular topic or issue. Often abbreviated as SME.

SME
See subject matter expert.

Social Bookmarking
Web applications by which users can tag and publicly share lists of interesting or informative Web pages. Popular social bookmarking sites include Delicious, Digg and StumbleUpon.

Status Update
Brief description, posted to a microblog, or social network with microblogging features (e.g. Facebook), of what a user is doing or feeling in real time.

Slidesharing
A type of social network whereby users can upload, manage, and slide decks publicly or with their networks, and rate or comment upon the slide decks of others. The most notable example of a slidesharing site is SlideShare.

SlideShare
A popular slide sharing site.

SEO
See Search Engine Optimization.

Sentiment
A metric that measure the tone of a conversation on a blog post, tweet, discussion, etc., usually by categorizing it as positive, negative or neutral.

Search Engine Optimization
The process of optimizing a Web site, blog post or other digital media for favorable placement in search engine results by taking into account the methods that search engines use to rank pages.

RSS Feed
A web standard that lets users subscribe to content from blogs, news stories, etc., through a feed reader, instead of by browsing from site to site.

Podcast
A pre-recorded, downloadable audio broadcast, designed to be listened to on an iPod or other MP3 player.

PPC
See pay-per-click.

Profile
An individual's identifying information requested when that individual signs up for a social networking site or other service. Profile information may include a username, contact information, personal or business interests, a photo, bio, or other data.

QR Code
A matrix bar code providing encoded information, most commonly in the form of a URL, which can be read by a QR scanner, camera phone or smart phone.

Photosharing
A type of social network whereby users can upload, manage, and share photo media publicly or with their networks, and comment on the photos of others. The most notable example of a photosharing site is Flickr.

Pay-per-click
A popular internet advertising model, whereby the provider generates revenue only when a user clicks on the advertisement.

Paid Search
Paid placement of a Web site in the search engine results for a particular keyword or keywords.

Orkut
A social networking site operated by Google, similar to Facebook and MySpace. Although Orkut is not very popular in the United States or Europe, it is extremely popular in both Brazil and India.

MySpace
A social network, similar to Facebook, where users maintain a profile of their personal interests, add friends and exchange messages. Although, MySpace is second in the market behind Facebook, it is known for having superior capabilities when it comes to music.

News Feed
On Facebook, a live feed of status updates and wall posts, filtered by an algorithm which brings the items that are most relevant to each user to the top of the list.

Open-source
A software production & development methodology which allows unrestricted access to the end product. Open-source software is the opposite of proprietary software, which requires ownership or a structured relationship with the owner, such as a license, in order to access the end product.

Mixi
The most popular social networking site in Japan, similar to Facebook and MySpace.

Microblog
Similar to a blog, although content is much more concise. The most well-known microblog is Twitter, which limits users to 140 characters; other services include Tumblr and Jaiku. Many social networks, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, also have a microblogging capability, known as 'status updates'.

LinkedIn
A professional social networking tool where users maintain a profile of their professional expertise and accomplishments, connect with other users, join interest groups, post and search for jobs, and more.

Meta-data
Information about a web page, blog post, photo, video, etc., that is not part of the core content of the page, but is used by browsers, search engines, or other software applications to categorize the content of that page. Depending on the type of web content, meta-data may include the titles, descriptions, keywords, tags and captions.

Influencer
A subject matter expert who is vocal in an online community and respected for his or her opinion, and therefore has the capacity to shape the opinions of others.

Instant Messaging
See chat.

Keyword
A subject or descriptive term that identifies the topic of a document, used to index documents for retrieval by search engines or other categorization. A keyword can appear in the body of the text, subject heading, meta-data, etc., and are the basis for pay-per-click advertising.

Like
Functionality shared by several social networks, including Facebook and LinkedIn, which allows users to recommend content or demonstrate agreement with commentary. This recommendation is shared with the social network, and also serves to move popular content up in the news feed or search rankings.

HootSuite
A popular Twitter dashboard.

Hyperlink
A web reference that allows users to navigate from one document or page to another.

IBM.com Communities
Public communities hosted by IBM, which allow users to share content and engage in conversation on a specific topic with a group of colleagues, Business Partners, and SMEs. Communities may have a variety of functionality, including blogs, discussion forums, wikis, etc., and can be started by anyone.

Hi5
A social network that bills itself as social entertainment, Hi5 allows users to build a profile, upload photo albums, play online games and set up a music profile. Hi5's audience is similar to that of Facebook and MySpace.

Hashtag
Indicated by a hash symbol (or '#'), it is a tag used to index tweets by adding context and meta-data. Hashtags can be used to search and organize tweets on similar subject matter, in the same way that keywords can be used to find content through search engines.

Friend
On Facebook, a user who is accepted into an individual's social network. (Verb) - The act of requesting admittance into an individual's social network on Facebook.

Follow
The act of signing up to receive the tweets of another Twitter user.

Follower
A person who has signed up on Twitter to receive your tweets.

Foursquare
a GPS-based social network, usually accessed by mobile applications, which allows users to share their whereabouts with others in their network.

Flickr
A popular photosharing site.

Feed_Reader
Application used to aggregate and display RSS feeds. Popular feed readers include Google Reader, NewzCrawler and FeedDemon.

Embedding
The act of coding a Web site so that photos or videos can be hosted on one Web site yet viewed from another as though it were part of that site.

Facebook
A social network where users maintain a profile of their personal interests, add friends and exchange messages.

Dashboard
When referring to blogs, the administrative interface that allows users to post, upload files, etc. When referring to social media, an aggregator that allows users to simultaneously monitor activity on multiple social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, discussion forums, etc., or for multiple search terms on a single social network.

Discussion Forums
A Web page where people hold conversations, which are usually public, in the form of posted messages. Unlike chat, which is not archived when the conversation ends, discussion threads remain visible until the moderator takes them down.

Connect
The act of requesting admittance into an individual's social network on LinkedIn.

Connection
On LinkedIn, a user who is accepted into an individual's social network.

Content Management System
A software suite with multiple functionalities, allowing for the ability to create static Web pages, blogs, wikis, document stores, etc.

Crowdsourcing
Outsourcing responsibility for content development or problem solving to volunteer individuals outside an organization, often by using a social platform to foster collaboration. The goal of crowdsourcing is to bring in additional resources and a fresh perspective by harnessing the enthusiasm of individuals who are passionate about a particular topic.

Comment
A response to a blog post, forum or message board on behalf of a reader. Many blogs, but not all, allow for comments, and some require the blog owner to approve them before they are posted. Often, a blog will also provide an RSS feed for comments.

CMS
See content management system.

Chat
Real-time interaction between two or more parties on a Web site or Web application. Chat between two parties is also known as Instant Messaging.

Blogosphere
The sum of all blogs on the Internet and the conversations taking place within those blogs, including posts and comments.

Blogger
A free blogging tool from Google, which can be linked to a gmail account.

Baidu Space
A social networking site that is own by popular Chinese search engine Baidu, the site allows users to create personalized homepages including blogs, photo albums, & other personalized information in a searchable database.

Bit.ly
A popular URL shortener.

Blog
A Web publishing tool that allows self-published posts, listed in reverse chronological order. Blog entries, or posts, are usually available as RSS feeds, and frequently, but do not always, allow for commenting by readers. Popular blogging tools include Blogger, Wordpress, and Typepad.

AdSense
Web sites, mobile applications, and feeds. A free software program provided Google, which enables Web publishers to generate revenue by displaying third party ads on a variety of content, including Web sites, mobile applications, and feeds.

Adwords
A popular internet advertising program run by Google. Google generates revenue for paid search on a pay-per-click basis, based on the number of clicks to searches of the keywords that the advertiser selects.

Aggregator
A Web site or software application that amasses information from multiple sources, for example news sites, search engines, or social media.