Twitter for Dummies - Laura Fitton [113]
FTL: Abbreviation of For the Loss. The opposite of FTW, FTL is a quick way to show disappointment or dissatisfaction.
FTW: Abbreviation of For the Win; a quick way to show appreciation or enthusiasm. The term comes from gamer and hacker speak. Many of the shorthand abbreviations on Twitter have their roots in the vernacular that arose in video games, hacker forums, or instant-message programs as far back as the 1980s.
FWIW: Abbreviation of For What It’s Worth.
hashtag: Words preceded by the # symbol. Basically, hashtags flag something as a keyword for searches. They’re surprisingly powerful, as real-time (but virtual) events, and even communities can (and do) form around them. At the time of writing, #journchat is a community of PR pros and journalists who discuss their trade every Monday evening.
IMO or IMHO: Abbreviations for In My Opinion or In My Humble Opinion.
metrics: A way to measure what the service means for business and individuals as it relates to return on the time invested. Because Twitter has so many analytical applications built on its API, you can find tons of Twitter metrics out there.
After using Twitter for a little while, check out your Twitter grade at TwitterGrader.com (http://twitter.grader.com).
microfunding or microgiving: A means of using microblogging to raise charity donations. Several Twitter apps, such as TipJoy (www.tipjoy.com), specialize in microfunding, and nonprofits, such as charity: water (www.charitywater.org), have made Twitter microfunding a priority.
microsharing or microblogging: The niche of social media that encompasses Twitter. Other services — such as Jaiku, Pownce, and Plurk — have also specialized in microblogging, but none of them has achieved anywhere close to the following that Twitter has. Several microsharing services have already been shut down by their creators.
mistweet: A tweet that you send in error, either because you send it to the wrong person or you accidentally send a public tweet that you intended as a DM. Either way, it’s a tweet you regret sending.
noise river: While you add more and more people to your Twitter stream, or if you turn on Show All @Replies (in your Twitter settings), you’re going to see more and more tweets. You may have to put forth more effort to sift through to the good stuff. Twitter users who start to encounter this problem sometimes start to refer to their Twitter stream as the noise river.
OH: An abbreviation for overheard. Used to anonymously quote something funny that you heard, usually in real life. OHs look like this: “OH: ‘Did somebody smell bacon? Because I sure did.’”
To see all tweets that are prefaced with OH, follow @overheard on Twitter.
@replies: Public tweets directed at specific people — anyone can see them and jump into the conversation.
RT or R/T: Stands for retweet, Twitter’s equivalent of quoting. If you come across a tweet that you want to quote, giving credit to the original user, type RT at the start of a new tweet, put the Twitterer’s username in an @reply format, and copy the contents of the tweet. A retweet looks like this: “RT @pistachio Boston - outdoor skating party this weekend, Sunday at 1pm. DM me if interested?” By putting RT at the front of the retweet, your also make sure that everyone can see your tweet because some members choose to turn off @replies that are not directed at them.
Keep in mind, however, that retweeting adds characters to a tweet and may force it over the 140-character limit. If that’s the case, you might just want to link to it directly, instead. When prolific Twitter users put out a tweet that they want people in their network to retweet (for example, when they announce an event or charitable cause), many of them consciously keep it short to prevent that problem.
spammers: Spammers clutter up your Twitter stream (if you choose to follow them) and, just like with e-mail and other Internet tools, they