Twitter-speak, definitions and other stuff.

As a part of the Twitter for Academics book I’m currently writing, I’ve made a list of terms, words and general stuff to know.

Everyday nouns and verbs: These words are the language of Twitter; the names of the tools and features of the environment.

Banner Pic	n.	The large picture at the top of an account profile
Bio	n.	The personalised short written description or biography in a profile
Block	v.	To block a user from interacting with you
Deets	n.	Details
DeTweet	v.	Deleting a Tweet
Discover	n.	Twitter’s feature enabling users to find content, users, and trends related to their interests
Favourite	n. v.	A ‘favourited’ Tweet. To like a Tweet by clicking the star icon
Follow	v.	To follow another user by clicking on their ‘follow’ button
Follower	n.	A user who has followed another in order to receive their Tweets on their Timeline
Geolocation. Geotagging	n. v.	The location of someone when they made a Tweet. Labelling a Tweet with location at time of Tweeting
Handle/username	n.	The string or combination of word/letters/digits chosen to represent and identify an account – used in Tweets and Messages preceded with ‘@’ symbol
Hashtag	n. v.	A word or string of words preceded with a #. To add a Hashtag to a Tweet .
Link	n. v.	A link to a website or source via URL/web address. To provide a link.
List	n.	A List of users collated by a single user and named accordingly, e.g. Biologists. Users can make Lists private or public so that other users can subscribe to that list to see what those in the List are Tweeting via a Timeline. No matter if private or public, if a user is added to a List they will be notified.
Mention	n. v.	Tweets in which your @username/handle is mentioned. To mention or be mentioned in a Tweet.
Message	n. v.	A message sent privately to a single user or group of users. To privately message a user.
Name	n.	The name you’ve given your account, which appears to others in notifications when you follow them (instead of your @username)
Notifications	n.	A timeline of all the replies, re-Tweets, mentions, favourites, new followers you have received, and lists to which you’ve been added
Pic	n.	Picture: a file attached to a Tweet or a profile or banner picture/photo
Pinned (Tweet)	v.	One Tweet can be selected to always remain at the top of the Tweet Timeline stream
Profile	n.	Information page of an account detailing name, username, bio and pictures as well as Tweets (protected and settings may vary information shown)
Profile Pic	n.	A photograph or picture chosen to visually represent the account.
Re-Tweet	v.	To forward a copy of someone else’s Tweet to your followers
Reply	v.	A reply to a Tweet, which will include the original Tweet’s @username in the reply
Selfie	v.	Taking a picture of oneself on a device and posting it online
Spam	n.	Irrelevant, annoying, unsolicited and sometimes dangerous Tweets
Timeline	n.	The stream of Tweets updated in real-time (as they are Tweeted)
Trending	n.	When a topic is one of the most Tweeted about subjects on Twitter
Tweet	n.	An 140 character space in which text, weblinks and photographs is placed and shared via Twitter
Tweeter	n.	Someone who uses Twitter
Tweeting	v.	To write and send Tweets
Twitter	n.	The social network and company name
Un-Follow	v.	To stop following someone by clicking unfollow on their profile (comp. Friend/un-Friend on Facebook)
Username /Handle	n.	The string or combination of word/letters/digits chosen to represent and identify an account – used in Tweets and Messages preceded with ‘@’ symbol

Common lingo: These words have been developed by social media users to describe Twitter more deeply; the activity, environment, and people.

Tweeple	Collective name of People who Tweet
Tweeps	Collective name for a person’s Twitter followers
Tweetable	Suitable for posting on Twitter
Twitterati	Frequent users of Twitter, often adept, keen, with lots of followers
Twittersphere	The Twitter environment
Twitterstorm/Tweetstorm	A sudden spike in Twitter activity surrounding a certain topic

Common Abbreviated Conversation: Tweets limit the conversation to 140 characters so users have developed common abbreviated forms of language to communicate more efficiently in a single Tweet. It’s quite a skill to break down language and still be understood, so here are a few for starters.

Functional / Instructional / Gestures: These are the commonest abbreviated instructions given within Tweets

CX	Correction
DM	Direct (private) Message
EM / EML	Email
EMA	Email Address
F2F/FTF	Face To Face
FB	Facebook
FF	Follow Friday (Weekly Hashtag Theme)
HT	Hat Tip (Gesture)
MRT	Modified ReTweet
NTS	Note To Self
OH	Over-heard
OOMF	One Of My Friends/Followers
PLMK	Please Let Me Know
PM	Private Message (same as DM – see above)
PRT	Please re-Tweet
RT	Re-Tweet
TBT	Throw Back Thursday (Weekly Hashtag Theme)
TLDR/TL;DR	Too Long / Didn’t Read
TMB	Tweet Me Back
TYIA	Thank You In Advance
TYT	Take Your Time

Expression / Opinion / Reaction: Expressions make a Tweets more personal and personable to the reader. Here are some of the most used.

ICYMI	In Case You Missed It
IDK	I Don’t Know
LOL	Laugh Out Loud
BTW	By The Way
IM(H)O	In My (Humble) Opinion
TBH	To Be Honest
TFTF	Thanks For The Follow (for following a user)
TGTR	You’ve Got That Right
YOLO	You Only Live Once
ZOMG	Oh My God (to the max)

**WARNING** Below are for those used to a more colourful and fragrant tongue, these are highly popular.

FFS	For Fuck’s Sake
FML	Fuck My Life
FTW	For The Win
FWIW	For What It’s Worth
GMAFB	Give Me A Fucking Break
GTFOOH	Get The Fuck Out Of Here
LMAO	Laugh(ing) My Ass Off
NFW	No Fucking Way
OMFG	Oh My Fucking God
STFU	Shut The Fuck Up

Other abbreviations, symbols and their meaning: Symbols are common to social media since they have an underlying function, a few key ones are mentioned below.

@	‘at’ symbol precedes every username
#	The Pound key or Number Sign, now dubbed Hashtag, precedes conversational topics for easy Tweet indexing
$	The Dollar key, dubbed Cashtag, precedes company stock or ticker symbols indexing stock market Tweets
URL	website address

Other Twitter terms worth knowing: Other references to elements of Twitter that are often overlooked without much consequence to the user but might be of interest.

Protected/Private accounts	All accounts are public by default and by ‘protecting’ your Tweets only approved followers of that account will see them
Promoted Trends	Paid for promoted (with time and date in context) trends by Twitter’s advertisers. Distinguishable from naturally trending Tweets as “Promoted.”
Promoted Tweets	Paid for promoted tweets that will appear in your Timeline even though you don’t follow that account
Suspended	Accounts which have broken terms of service and prohibited from using Twitter
Timestamp	Time and date a Tweet is posted to Twitter
Top Tweets	Most popular Tweets on Twitter at any given time
Verification	Blue check Icon indicates legitimate source and account

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE – write comments and make suggestions to add your favourites or just point out any glaring errors or mistakes.