Social Media Glossary
Facebook
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Friends: contacts a user can connect with by sending messages to, sharing posts with,
viewing their profile and posts, and commenting, liking, sharing, and replying to their
content
Like(s): a response to a Facebook post to show that a user enjoyed it without leaving a
comment; users click “Like” below a post to show the creator you like it
Reaction emoji: a new features on FB that allows you to respond to other posts by selecting
a visual emotional response similar to the common 'like' feature.
News Feed: updating list of stories from friends, Pages a user has liked, and other
connections such as Groups or events they are interested in; personalized based on
interests and sharing activity of friends
Pages: public profiles that let businesses, organizations, musicians, etc. create a presence on
Facebook with posts
Profile: where users can post status updates, share interests, photos and videos, and
personal information such as hometown, birthday, and education
Timeline: where users can see posts or posts they’ve been tagged in; part of a user’s profile
On Facebook, you create a Profile, which includes information about you as well as text, photo,
and video posts made on your Timeline. You can view your Friends’ posts through your News
Feed and respond to their posts by commenting, sharing, reacting, or liking their posts. You can
also like Pages and view a Page’s posts through your News Feed. You can also play games or
access additional applications, RSVP and show interest in events, and join Facebook groups.
Instagram
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@username: a username is how an individual user identified on Instagram; @ is used to
address other usernames in comments or posts
Activity: displays likes and comments on a user’s own posts and shows photos and videos
that friends are liking and commenting on
Camera: allows users to take photos with the Instagram camera or share photos from a
phone’s library
Filters: effect packages developed by Instagram used to edit photos and videos; filter
strength can be adjusted
Follow: to subscribe to an account and see posts from that user on the Home feed
Home feed: shows a feed/reel of photos from a user and their Instagram friends; photos can
be liked and commented on
Profile: displays a user’s biography and Instagram posts; also where a user can edit profile
info and adjust account settings
Search & Explore: page where users can find photos and videos from accounts they do not
currently follow; also includes curated topics from Instagram
Each @username has a Profile, which shows all of that user’s photos and videos as well as their
biography (bio). If you like their account, you can select to Follow them. To make your own post,
click Camera and take a photo or select them from your devices library. Then you can apply a
Filter to edit the photo to your liking. This photo will be displayed on your Home feed, and
Activity will display any likes or comments your post receives. Home will show you photos from
your friends while Search & Explore can help you find new accounts to follow.
1|Handout
The University of Texas at San Antonio - Tomás Rivera Center – SI
[email protected]
Social Media Glossary
Snapchat
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Best friends: snapchat friends who you ‘Snap’ and/or ‘Chat’ most frequently with as
determined by Snapchat; a list of Best Friends is private to each Snapchat user
Friend emojis: emojis displayed next to a friend’s name on Snapchat; different emojis
represent different characteristics of your Snapchat relationship
Score: a user’s Snapchat score is a “special equation” based on the number of Snaps a user
has sent and received, stories posted and “other factors”
Snaps: picture or video messages taken and shared with friends on Snapchat in real time;
viewable for up to 10 seconds depending on amount of time the user chooses
Snapstreak: occurs when friends Snap each other within 24 hours for more than one
consecutive day
Stories: user snaps multiple pictures of videos and are compiled to create a narrative; Snaps
appear in chronological order, and each individual Snap will only appear for 24 hours. User
must post to their ‘story’ in order for this feature to take effect.
On Snapchat, you send photos or videos in the form of a ‘Snap’. These Snaps are only available
to view for a set amount of time that you determine (up to 10 seconds). You can select Snaps to
display to your Story, which is shown on your profile and consists of a chronological collection of
selected Snaps. Friends are accompanied by different Friend emoji’s icons that is based on your
frequency of communication on Snapcat, mutual friends, and Best Friend status. To maintain a
Snapstreak, you must send a Snap to a friend and receive a Snap from the same friend within 24
hours for more than 1 consecutive day. To increase your Score, send and receive Snaps more
frequently.
Twitter
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@username: a username is how an individual user identified on twitter; @ is used to call out
usernames in Tweets
Direct Messages: private messages sent between Twitter users
Follow: subscribe to a Twitter account and see all Tweets from the account on the Home
feed/stream immediately after each Tweet is posted
Hashtag: any word or phrase preceded by “#”; by clicking on a hashtag, users can view other
Tweets containing the same keyword or topic
Home feed: display of Tweets from accounts a user follows on Twitter
Retweet: sharing another users Tweet to all your respective followers
Trend: topic or hashtag that are frequently used on Twitter at given moments
Tweet: a Twitter post that may contain photos, videos, links, and up to 140 characters of
text
To make a post on Twitter, you compose a short Tweet to share with your Followers. You can
include a hashtag to highlight key words in a post to share with other users interested in similar
content. Popular topics indicated as trending on Twitter. To communicate with others, you can
mention them in a Tweet using their @username, send them a private direct message, or share
their Tweets with your Followers by Retweeting.
2|Handout
The University of Texas at San Antonio - Tomás Rivera Center – SI
[email protected]