Twitter is my favorite microblogging service. There are many, many glossaries of Twitter vocabulary on the web. So many, in fact, it’s almost overwhelming to a newbie to Twitter.
Let’s come up with the top 10 words that someone new to Twitter should know. Here are eight that I came up with quickly. Can you help round out the list?
- Tweet: Your 140-character (or shorter) message
- Twittering: The act of sending your tweet
- Followers: People who receive your tweets
- Retweet: Forwarding a tweet to your followers
- @ : The symbol that precedes the name of a person you’re replying to
- Tweep: Someone you know on Twitter
- Tweeple: See “tweep”
- Twoops: Accidentally sending a direct (private) message publicly
(And if you’re wondering “what’s Twitter?” see the clear and concise description from Common Craft, the company that specializes in explaining complex things in plain English.)
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The lingo that I get asked about the very most is actually old computer geek stuff. So these aren’t Twitter specific, but I don’t think I got for more than a couple of days until I see somebody ask me directly (or the Twitter community at large) what they mean.
w00t: Those aren’t ohs, those are zeros. That is an old gaming term that could have a couple of meanings, but it’s generally accepted as “we own the other team”. It used to be a victory cry after playing games with people online. Now it’s a more generic term often used for something that is really great.
FTW: “for the win”. There are some other more vulgar representations, but this is what most people refer to it as. A nice nod to game shows, and another exclamation of joy or victory.
noob: Same as newbie. You used that to start your post.
Twam, twammer, twamming — Twitter spam. As in, don’t do it.
I’ve gotten asked about emoticons a lot – the smileys that some Twitter folks use to punctuate their Tweets and add a bit more emotional depth to the flat text. Also, Summize is a key Twitter term for searching conversation threads and keywords on http://www.summize.com, especially when Twitter Replies aren’t showing up.
Great list – here are two more:
Tweetup: A gathering scheduled by using Twitter to communicate to attendees
Tmeet: To meet someone in person for the first time, who you previously only knew through Twitter (I’ve been trying -in a fun way- for awhile to come up with that term, and explained it more here: http://adamcohen.typepad.com/adamsblog/2008/08/a-suggestion-for-the-twitter-lexicon.html )
Thanks!
Adam
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Great that uoi include the Common Craft video. I use Common Craft videos to explain Web 2.0 to my mother and anyone else. Always well put together.
Anthony Russo
Conferencing Consultant
Great America Networks Conferencing
arusso@ganconference.com
http://www.ganconference.com
http://blog.ganconference.com/
Skype: anth.russo
Twitter: @AnthonyRusso
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Twitter is very addictive. I like Twitter more than blogging. the messages are short and straight to the point.
i always update my Twitter and i love to twitter my daily activities to my friends and loved ones. i also maintain a personal blog for entries which requires more detail.
I love to use Twitter whenever i want to know the latest buzz about my friends. I also use Twitter to know the latest buzz from famous persons *
[...] If I haven’t followed you, and you would like me to, it’s generally a good idea to send me an @barbaranixon so that I know you’re interested in engaging in conversation with me. And if it seems like I’ve been talking in a foreign language here, take a look at A Twitter Lexicon. [...]