The 75 Most Important Social Media Acronyms

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Network-Specific Acronyms
To start, its probably most helpful to review some of the common acronyms that are tied to specific social media
networks. Theyre generally intuitive, but you should be sure theyre locked in your brain.

1. FB: Facebook.
2. G+: Google+.
3. IG: Instagram.
4. LI: LinkedIn.
5. YT: YouTube.

There are also a few regularly used acronyms that describe features on those networks. If youre on Twitter in
particular, these are a must-know for improving your communications among team members and with your
online audience.

6. DM: A Direct Message is a one-on-one message sent on Twitter that is only visible to the two individuals
exchanging them.
7. MT: Sometimes when youre resharing a Tweet, youll alter the text. That makes it a Modified Tweet. That
may mean shortening it to fit within the character limit or removing the posters handle if they have a private
account.
8. PM: Private message is the more general term for any one-on-one communication thats not visible to the
public. It includes DMs.
9. RT: A Retweet is when you publish somebody elses Tweet, in its entirety, to your own feed.

For Business
Business experts have always had a unique set of terminology. Many of the general terms that would come up in
marketing meetings are equally useful in a social media context.

10. B2B: This business to business label refers to companies that are selling to other companies.
11. B2C: On the other hand, business to consumer designates a company that is selling to individuals.
12. CMGR: This is the abbreviation for community manager.
13. CMS: A content management system is the tool you use for editing, scheduling and publishing any written
material for the web.
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14. CPC: The cost per click is the dollar amount an advertiser pays for every person who clicks on an ad.
15. CPM: Cost per thousand measures an ads impressions rather than its clicks (as in CPC).
16. CR: The conversion rate is a simple equation: the number of people who take an action divided by the
number who could have.
17. CTA: A call to action is a statement that asks the reader to do something. This is usually a specific action
related to building the companys social presence or to getting involved in a marketing push.
18. CTR: The clickthrough rate is a particular type of conversion rate where the action in question is clicking on
a link.
19. KPI: A key performance indicator is a metric your team or business uses to measure success in achieving
goals. For social media, this could be a measurement of engagement, conversions, shares or clicks, depending
on your purpose in being on those networks.
20. PPC: Pay per click is a metric for advertising costs thats the same as CPC.
21. PV: This stands for page views.
22. ROI: Return on investment measures the money you make in relation to the money you spent to make it.
Its a way of assessing the success of certain promotional or advertising efforts.
23. UGC: The term user generated content encompasses any written or visual material that the individuals
using a platform create, from comments or blog posts, to photos or video clips.

The Technical Terms

These may not come up frequently in your regular water-cooler chats, but its useful for anybody working in
social to understand some of the most relevant technical abbreviations. These cover a range of acronyms
related to online business that could come up in a chat with the IT team or when dealing with a customer support
ticket. In either case, you dont want to be nodding along without knowing whats being discussed.

24. API: An application programming interface is a set of rules for how pieces of software interact. Your social
media management tools use the APIs of Facebook, Twitter and the other networks to post and schedule.
25. ESP: Your email service provider is the software used for sending emails. This can be an outside service
used for email blasts to your audience or for powering your internal team communications.
26. HTML: You see these letters all the time, and they stand for hyper text markup language. Its the coding
language used to build all webpages.
27. ISP: Just as the ESP is the business supplying your email needs, your Internet service provider is the
company powering your Internet service.
28. RSS: A really simple syndication is a feed of all posted content from a source, usually a blog.
29. SaaS: This is an abbreviation for software as a service, which is a subset of companies that are in the

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business of providing software programs.
30. SEM: Search engine marketing is how businesses leverage search engines for marketing purposes.
31. SEO: Search engine optimization is a form of SEM. It refers to the choices you make in your written
content that are designed to make sure that your creations appear high in the rankings of the correct search
terms.
32. TOS: Terms of service. Just about any online service, including social networks, has a Terms of Service that
you must agree to in order to use it. Marketers will want to keep an eye out for any limitations on business activity
and details about ownership, both of your content and your data.
33. UI: The user interface is the display that a person uses to control a tool.
34. UX: The user experience is a persons response and reaction to taking actions within a tool.

Just for Fun

Many of these acronyms crossed over into social media from texting or from online shorthand used in forums.
Some of them have been bandied around the Internet for years, but others are more modern inventions. Youll
most likely find these in the public posts made and shared by your followers, or in their comments on your social
content. Some of them also get turned into popular hashtags that individuals and brands alike can take
advantage of.

35. AFAIK: Stands for as far as I know.

36. AMA: Stands for ask me anything. Often used to signal an open Q&A opportunity on a social channel.
37. BAE: This abbreviation means before anyone else, and is one of the more recent creations. Typically it
refers to a persons significant other, but could be a very close friend as well.
38. BFF: A throwback to childhood in the 80s and 90s, this still stands for best friends forever.
39. BRB: Be right back. This comes up most often in the context of real-time messaging or chat services.
40. BTW: Stands for by the way.
41. FBO: Stands for Facebook official. This most often refers to making a public announcement of a life
development, such as a new job or new relationship, on Facebook to your entire social audience.
42. FF: The follow Friday trend began as a Twitter hashtag for recommending people who merit attention on
social. These days, most users dont make this a weekly update, but save it for giving a signal boost to
especially interesting or important social profiles.
43. FOMO: Stands for fear of missing out.
44. FTW: This acronym of for the win initiated in the gaming world, but has become a cry of victory or success
for all.
45. FYI: For your information. Another classic thats still in frequent rotation.
46. GTG: Got to go can end a conversation.
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47. ICYMI: In case you missed it most frequently is used when sharing content that is not current. That could be
a news item from a few days prior or an evergreen blog post that you want to return to circulation.
48. IDC: Stands for I dont care.
49. IDK: Stands for I dont know.
50. ILY: Stands for I love you.
51. IMHO: This acronym means in my humble opinion.
52. IMO: A slightly different take, this means simply in my opinion.
53. IRL: This acronym means in real life, and is meant to distinguish between peoples online and offline lives.
54. JK: This phrase is just kidding, and can be helpful in conveying a light-hearted tone when theres a
possibility for a statement to be misconstrued.
55. LMAO: Stands for laughing my a** off. Not always the right phrase for a business context, but makes it just
as necessary to know this acronym when you see it.
56. LMK: Stands for let me know.
57. LOL: A well-used phrase from the beginning of online chat culture, this means laughing out loud.
58. NBD: Stands for no big deal.
59. NM: Stands for not much.
60. NVM: Stands for never mind.
61. NSFW: The label not safe for work usually designates material that is violent, sexual or otherwise
inappropriate for a professional setting.
62. OH: Stands for overheard. Generally used as context for quotes.
63. OMG: Stands for oh my god or oh my gosh.
64. OMW: Stands for on my way.
65. PODT: Commonly used as a hashtag on image-centric networks, this stands for photo of the day.
66. PPL: This is shorthand for people.
67. QOTD: Another frequent hashtag, this one means quote of the day.
68. ROFL: A close relative of LOL and LMAO, this acronym is rolling on the floor laughing.
69. SMH: This stands for shaking my head and is most frequently used to express shock or dismay.
70. TBH: Stands for to be honest.
71. TBT: If youre sharing an old photo, youll most likely want to use the hashtag for throwback Thursday. Just
make sure you post on the right day of the week!
72. TIL: Stands for today I learned.
73. TL;DR: This unusual acronym means too long; didnt read.
74. WTF: Another salty shorthand, this stands for what the f***.
75. YOLO: The phrase originated in a song by rapper Drake, but the acronym of you only live once has also
caught on in social communication.

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