Social Media Terms Glossary

General Terms
Algorithm – A set of formulas developed for a computer to perform a certain function. This is important in the social sphere as the algorithms sites like Facebook and Google use are critical for developing content promotion strategies.
Bio – A short blurb of text, usually found at the top of social media profiles explaining who the user is. On Instagram, it is the only place on the platform that supports links.
Clickbait – Marketing or advertising material that employs a sensationalized headline to attract clicks. They rely heavily on the "curiosity gap" by creating just enough interest to provoke engagement.
Cover Photo/Header Image - The large, horizontal image at the top of your Facebook profile or page. Similar to a profile photo, a cover photo is public and can be seen by anyone.
CrowdRiff – A tool that enables businesses to source, search and request imagery from social media users for web, social, print and digital efforts.
Engagement – The acts of talking to, messaging or otherwise interacting with other people on social networks. This term encompasses several different types of actions on social media, from commenting on Facebook posts to participating in Twitter chats. At its simplest, social media engagement is any interaction you have with other users.
Geolocation/Geotag – The directional coordinates that can be attached to a piece of content online. For example, Instagram users often use geotagging to highlight the location in which their photo was taken.
Handle – The term used to describe someone's @username on Twitter. For example, AOT’s Twitter handle is @ArizonaTourism.
Hashtag/# – The hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by the “#” sign. Hashtags are a way to mark the topic of social media messages and make them discoverable to people with shared interests. On most social networks, clicking a hashtag will reveal all the public and recently published messages that also contain that hashtag. Hashtags first emerged on Twitter as a user-created phenomenon and are now used on almost every other social media platform, including Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Vine and Pinterest.
Impressions – The number of times an ad, sponsored update, or promoted post is displayed.
Influencer – A social media user who can reach a significant audience and drive awareness about a trend, topic, company, or product. From a marketer’s perspective, the ideal influencer is also a passionate brand advocate.
Later – A tool used for searching, scheduling storing and reposting images from Instagram.
Like – An engagement action used across different social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Facebook’s algorithm adjusts individual content feeds based on “like” patterns.
Mention – The act of tagging another user’s handle or account name in a social media message. Mentions trigger a notification for that user and are a key part of what makes social media “social”. When properly formatted (for example, as an @mention on Twitter), a mention also allows your audience to click through to the mentioned users’ bio or profile.
Organic Reach – Free reach. It refers to the number of unique people who saw your content without your having to pay for it. The vast majority of organic reach occurs when Facebook’s algorithm places your posts in the News Feeds of your fans.
Paid Reach – The number of unique people who saw your content because you paid for promoted posts or display ads.
Reach – The number of unique people who have seen content from your page. Reach is not the same as impressions, which is the total number of times your content is viewed (including multiple views from the same user).
Sprout Social – A social media management tool with features for scheduling, analytics, monitoring and reporting.
Tag/Tagging – A keyword added to a social media post with the original purpose of categorizing related content. A tag can also refer to the act of tagging someone in a post, which creates a link to their social media profile and associates them with the content.
Timeline – A timeline—or “feed”—organizes the content distributed by people you follow in a stream. Organization of the timeline is dependent on the platform’s algorithm and the user’s social media habits.
UGC/User-Generated Content – Content—blogs, videos, photos, quotes, etc.—that is created by consumers. Marketers typically tap into their audience in an online setting to collect this type of content to support a campaign or initiative.
Verified Profile – Profiles with a blue badge next to their name let users know the profile has been certified as authentic by the social media platform. Brands, businesses and celebrities are typically verified.
Facebook Terms
Fans – The term used to describe people who like your Facebook Page.
Facebook Live – A Facebook feature that offers live video streaming to users.
Facebook Stories – Short user-generated photo and video collections appearing for only 24 hours at a time.
Reactions – A line-up of emoji that allow you to react to posts with six different animated emotions: Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, Angry, and, the classic Like.

Instagram Terms
Explore Tab – A fee within the Instagram application that features content tailored to the user’s interest based on their pattern of engagement interpreted by the algorithm.
Instagram Live – An Instagram feature that offers live video streaming to users.
Instagram Stories – Short user-generated photo and video collections appearing for only 24 hours at a time.
Link in Bio – Because Instagram only supports links in users’ bios and not in captions, many pages have taken to directing followers to the “link in the bio.”

Twitter Terms
Quote – A Twitter function that allows users to repost a Tweet with a comment of their own and the link to the original post.
Retweet – The Twitter feature for sharing a post.
Tweet – Another name for a post in the Twitter platform.