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150 Social Media Acronyms & Slangs You Should Know

Aug 6, 2023 18 min read

Chances are high that you have already cracked the code of various acronyms used in typical social media conversations & comments. But have you ever come across initialisms like HIFW or FWIW and wonder what it means?

Known as acronyms, this dialect has already become a trend. From DM to API to SaaS, GenZ's FOMO to TBH & ASAP, social media acronyms are amazingly extensive.

To better understand your audience & to humanize your brand, you are required to understand this social lingo; when you arm yourself with the knowledge, communication with your prospects becomes easier.

Enrich your internet language knowledge RN, scroll through the article to keep up with our list of social media acronyms & slang. Check this out.

You can scroll through the article or jump to a section of your choice.

Social Network-Specific Acronyms

Let's start with the social media acronyms associated with specific social networks. To boost up your social media communication skills, it is vital to understand the acronyms thoroughly.

Social Network-Specific Acronyms

FB: Facebook
IG: Instagram
LI: LinkedIn
SC: SnapChat
TW: Twitter
YT: YouTube

Apart from these networks, each of them has its specific acronyms associated with the features. Check these out:

DM: Direct Message

DM stands for direct message, which is a private communication feature; the private and direct message only you & recipient can see or read. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn users can tap or click on the DM features on the social networks to send or reply to someone through private messages.

HT: Hat tip

HT or Hat tip or heard through, which is used on Twitter to give attributes to the user who has made you aware about the content originally. It is more like showing gratitude or the process of acknowledgment between two users. You can use 'hat tip' to acknowledge your followers by clicking the reply option & mention them.

Latergram

Latergram denotes taking a photo in real-time but posting it on Instagram later. For example, you took the photograms of your employee advocacy training & posted it after a few days; you can use the hashtag #latergram.

MT: Modified Tweet

MT denotes modified tweets. Modified tweets are the edited tweets that are retweeted on the network primarily for brevity. MTs are the paraphrase of a tweet originally tweeted by someone else, or they are also called Quote Tweets.

NB: Not Bad

NB is used on email, chat & messages on all social networks; it is used to guess something the users have not used or seen before.

PM: Private Message

PM denotes private messages, which are the same as direct messages. When a user or your prospects request PM, they ask you to transfer the conversion from a public forum to a private channel. PMs are a dual communication process.

PRT: Partial Retweet

PRT or partial tweets are almost similar to an RT; these are the truncated version of someone else's tweets. In RT, users quote only a part of the original tweet.

RT: Retweet

RT stands for retweets, which are the tweets that users reshare on their feeds. You can request your brand's followers to retweet your brand's Twitter post; it helps in gaining reach & visibility of your post. Usually, influencers, celebrities & brands use this tactic.

Business Social Media Acronyms

Business social media acronyms are extensively used in business meetings & communication. Updating & knowing the business acronyms helps your team communicate easily.

Also, professionals with a solid understanding of the social lingo help streamline the team workflow in virtual office scenarios. Let's scroll through the list:

Business Social Media Acronyms

B2B: Business To Business

B2B business to business refers to a form of transaction between businesses. It refers to the business that is conducted between companies, it cater the need of other business.

B2C: Business To Consumer

B2C or business to consumer refers to the process of selling products or services directly to the consumers. Here the consumers are the end-users of the product.

CMGR: Community Manager

CMGRs are self-driven, tech-savvy & ambitious professionals who are the face & voice of the brand. Right from PR, social media to content creation, they are responsible for managing & handling two-way community communication. They build, nurture & strengthen the brand's relationships with the community.

CTA: Call To Action

CTA or call to action denotes the clear call to the audience to act upon seeing your post. CTA helps to achieve your goals easier. While creating content, you can use CTA's like 'Read on,' 'Download now,' 'Shop now,' 'Sign up now,' etc. Using a CTA brand or business motivates their prospects to take any action, and the process enters the brand's sales funnel.

ETA: Estimated Time Of Arrival

ETA, which is the abbreviation of the estimated arrival time, is used to know the possible due time of a deliverable.

EOD: End Of The Day

Usually, in corporate scenarios, EOD is used as a deadline for some assignment or task.

IAM: In A Meeting

IAM or in a meeting is used to deliver the message that you are busy with a client or in a team discussion & it is not an ideal time for a phone call.

ISO: In Search Of

ISO or in search of denotes that the person is looking for purchasing item, the user is a buyer & not looking for selling.

KPI: Key Performance Indicators

KPIs are the metrics to measure the effectiveness of business social media marketing strategy. Through KPI' you understand how your campaigns are performing & if there's room for improvement to achieve your desired goal.

OOO: Out Of Office

Out of offices is generally used in email conversations to inform that the sender will be away from the office for work-related travel or on holiday or out for any company outreach programs, seminars, or workshops.

SEM: Search Engine Marketing

SEM is a digital marketing strategy. It is sensed to enhance the visibility of the website in search engine result pages.

SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely

SMART is widely used in business for achievable goal setting. SMART, which is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely goals, incorporates business & brands to make their marketing efforts effective & impactful with a better result.

SMB: Small And Midsize Businesses

Businesses with less than 50 employees are small businesses. Midsize businesses usually have less than 250 employees. SMBs are also referred to as SMEs, small & mid-sized enterprises.

SMM: Social Media Marketing

SMM or social media marketing involves using social platforms for brand promotion, lead generation, target audience growth & enhancing sales. SMM is used to increase brand awareness & visibility as well.

SoLoMo: Social, Local, Mobile

SoLoMo is the abbreviation of social, local, mobile; the term is often used in marketing. SoLoMo is the convergence of collaborative, location-based technologies. With the help of SoLoMo applications, advertisers can push notifications to geographically nearby prospects.

SRP: Social Relationship Platform

SRP is a centralized platform that helps B2C brands & companies to enhance a sturdy relation with consumers & influences. SRP platforms allow advertisers to schedule posts across social networks; maintain a database of customer social interactions reporting & social monitoring or listening.

UGC: User-Generated Content

User-generated content denotes any content on social media such as posts, images, reviews, or videos created by users of the social media platform, shared by a brand.

TOS: Terms Of Service

Terms of service is a commonly used phrase that denotes the set of legal rules & regulations & users required to agree to follow the terms.

ROI: Return Of Investment

ROI measures the profit delivered by your initiatives. It considers how much you have earned through a campaign in comparison to the amount you have spent. KPI helps to measure your campaign ROI as well.

A few social media acronyms associated with the business are as follow:

LTM: Last Twelve Months
LTV: Lifetime Value
MBI: Management Buy-In
MBO: Management Buyout
MESBIC: Minority Enterprise Small Business Investment Companies
MF: Management Fee
MoM: Month Over Month
MRR: Monthly Recurring Revenue
MSP: Multi-sided Platform
MVP: Minimal Viable Product
NASD: National Association Of Securities Dealers
NACO: National Angel Capital Association
NAV: Net Asset Value
NDA: Non Disclosure Agreement

Technical Acronyms On Social

Are you a developer, or do you manage social media for a tech company? If yes, you should know the technical social media acronyms to have smooth communication with your audience & team members. Technical abbreviations are not generally used in regular conversations, yet they have great importance in the world of social media.

Technical Acronyms On Social

API: Application Programming Interface

API is the tools, terms & protocols to build and integrate application software. It allows software developers to back their system with another one. While designing new tools, API ensures flexibility; and provides opportunities for innovation. Besides, it simplifies design, administration, and use.

CMS: Content Management System

CMS the abbreviated form of the content management system. CMS helps users create, manage, and modify content on a website without specialization in technical knowledge. With CMS, you can build your website without writing the codes from the basics.

CX: Customer Experience

CX or Customer experience denotes business engagement with its prospects at every point of their buying journey. Along with action, CX focuses on feelings & what customers perceive about your brand. CX is the entire process from marketing to sales to customer service, & it is that combination of the interaction of your prospects with your brand & business.

CPC: Cost Per Click

CPC or Cost per click is a bidding strategy, the amount you have to pay for each click on your ad. CPC bidding is also known as PPC or pay per click.

CPM: Cost Per Mile

CPM or Cost per mile is an advertising term; it refers to the Cost the advertisers have to pay per 1000 impressions. CPM measures the impressions on your ad rather than clicks.

CTR: Click-through Rate

CTR or click-through rate is the ratio of how often people clicked on your ad. CTR is used to gauge the performance of your keywords, ads & free listings. CTR is calculated by dividing the clicks by impressions on the particular ad.

CR: Conversion Rate

CR or conversion rate denotes the ratio of your website visitors who completed a desired goal or conversion out of the gross numbers of visitors. The high conversion rate of your campaign indicates a successful marketing campaign.

CRO: Conversion Rate Optimization

CRO is the acronym for conversion rate optimization, optimizing your landing page, or optimizing your site based on the visitor's behavior. CRO helps to improve the conversion on that particular page.

ESP: Email Service Provider

ESPs are a third-party company & the software which provides email services. ESP services include sending newsletters & marketing campaigns.

FTP: File Transport Protocol

FTP refers to the set of rules that govern the process of transferring files between systems via the internet. FTP uses three basic modes such as block, stream & compressed. FTP helps brands & businesses to send data fields, which improves the workflow.

GA: Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a tool for your business to analyze your business data. Studies say that GA can optimize your business & can help to boost your revenue growth. The analytics give you the complete view of your consumers & helps to enhance your reach as well.

ISP: Internet Service Provider

ISP provides business internet service. Both consumers & brands can access their service.

OS: Operation System

Operating systems manage the software & hardware of your electronic gadgets like mobiles, tab, computer, or laptop.

RSS: Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary

RSS is a feed that is the source of all published content, notifying readers when new content, primarily blog, is available online. It allows you to syndicate content from many websites; you can personalize & track your interred content.

SaaS: Software As A Service

SaaS is one of the significant categories of cloud computing; in this model, software distribution enterprises host applications & makes the software program accessible for users online. User pays a subscription amount to gain access to the ready-made software solution.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization

SEO is the process of augments your website to enhance search results & obtaining heigh rank to gain attention & visibility.

UI: User Interface

UI is the visual elements such as pages, screens, icons & buttons of a tool with which the user interacts with the product.

URL: Uniform Resource Locator

URL is the unique address that helps the users to identify a page or a website. It incorporates with domain name & other detailed information to create the specific address.

UX: User Experience

UX is the deep understanding of users' needs, requirements, ability & limitations and promotes enhancing user interaction with the product or service.

VPN: Virtual Private Network

VPN offers encrypted connection & allows users to use the internet anonymously. It masked your internet identity while using the public network connection.

Communication & Conversation Social Acronyms

While acronyms, abbreviations, and slang are not common in the written forms, it is most common in the spoken form. It is growing even more common on social media, with new ones coming up each day. Following is a list of common social media acronyms used in conversations:

Communication & Conversation Social Acronyms

BRB: Be Right Back

BRB is the polite way to express that an online user is away from the keyboards for a short period. It is used so that there is no chaos in communication.

BTS: Behind The Scene

BTS or behind the scene is a popular culture acronym; it denotes posting or revealing
things or ventures that happened privately without being seen by the public.

CMW: Change My View

CMW denotes the effort to change the speaker's perspective if the opinion is flawed or if the speaker is trying to understand the other perspective of the matter.

ELI5: Explain It To Me Like I Am 5

ELI5: Explain to me like I am 5 phase is used in the comment thread when a person is requesting the most simplified explanation. Here 'I am 5' is a metaphor for five years old.

FBF: Flashback Friday

On social media platforms, FBF is used on captions for an old image shared on Friday. The acronym is popularly used on Instagram pictures posts.

FTW: For The Win

FTW or win is a common cheer acronym used on online platform's text conversations & emails to express enthusiasm about a victory or achievement.

FUD: Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt

FUD is the propaganda tactic in marketing, sales & public relation, politics, or cult. FUD is a strategy to impact perception through negative, doubtful & false information dissemination and a tactic to evoke fear.

IMO: In My Opinion

IMO is used when you share your opinion to others; it is used on emails or DMS or comments on social media.

IMHO: In My Humble Opinion

IMHO is used to share your best knowledge or honest opinion on a matter; it is frequently used as a typing shortcut on social media communication.

LOL: Laugh Out Loud

LOL is used to imply smiling or amusement. The phrase's origin can be traced in 1980; it was included in the oxford dictionary in 2011.

ROFL: Rolling On Floor Laughing

ROFL is primarily used in text conversation to indicate that the speaker is laughing hard.

TBH: To Be Honest

TBH motivates users to express their opinion honestly about an individual or a product, or a post.

TGIF: Thank God It's Friday

TGIF or thank God it's Friday is an acronym that is primarily used in English-speaking countries; the phase expresses gratification that the workweek is almost over & leisure time is about to begin.

TFTF: Thanks For Following

TFTF or thanks for the following is used to show gratitude towards followers or fans, or prospects for following your social profiles.

WFH: Working From Home

WFH acronyms are used for a connection; it denotes working remotely from home, not in an office set up.

WBW: Wayback Wednesday

WBW is a social media texting conversation used on hashtags to express nostalgia; it is used when people use old photos of themselves or others.

Following is a further example of communication social media acronyms:

IDC: I Don’t Care
IDK: I Don’t Know
IRL: In Real Life
JK: Just Kidding
LMAO: Laughing My Ass Off
LMK: Let Me Know
NBD: No Big Deal
NM: Not Much
NSFW: Not Safe For Work
FF: Follow Friday
JIC: Just In Case
OTP: One True Pairing
IANAD: I Am Not A Doctor
WDYMBT: What Do You Mean By That?

Funny Acronyms & Gen-Z Acronyms Used On Social

While there are numerous acronyms in circulation out there, with new ones emerging every now and then, and most of them meaning business, there are a few social media acronyms that are meant for some laughs or for poking a little fun among friends and followers. Here are a few of such commonly used fun acronyms and abbreviations.

Funny Acronyms & Gen-Z Acronyms Used On Social

ADIDAS: All day I dream about Soccer

One of the oldest acronyms in use today came into existence after the widespread popularity of Adidas soccer boots.

ABITHAD: Another Blithering Idiot Thinks He's A Doctor

This one is supposed to poke fun at those who think they are a 'know it all, at times, even more than the professionals.

DIET: Do I Eat Today?

Used to represent the confusion and extreme resolution required to follow a diet.

FF: Frequent Flyer

It is used to point at people who frequently travel by flight.

FLU: Fluids Leaking Unstoppably

It can be used to boost the morale of a person suffering from flu, with the help of a few laughs.

GOAT: Greatest Of All Time

This social acronym is used to denote someone who is the best in their respective field.

GOOGLE: Grand Online Oracle Generation Legitimate Explanations

In a fun way, this acronym puts forth the quality of the search engine by associating it with an Oracle, much like people go to Oracles to find out facts they don't otherwise possess. People today go to Google to find out, more or less, about anything they come by.

MAID: Mother Actually In Disguise

This acronym is used chiefly to acknowledge the importance of a maid in a bachelor's life. This could also be used to poke fun at those who depend religiously on their maids.

TEAM : Together Everyone Achieves More

A good acronym commonly used to boost team morale.

TEETH: Tried Everything Else; Try Homeopathy

This follows the widespread belief that there is nothing homeopathy cannot cure. Moreover, many think that homeopathy uses a placebo to heal people. In such cases, skeptics are seen using this acronym.

YOLO: You Only Live Once

YOLO is used to motivate to do enjoyable & exciting things in life, even if they are silly. It encourages to enjoy life at best.

VODKA: Very Overpowering Drink, Killing Agony

This acronym is used to aptly describe the qualities of vodka, which tends to let the consumer know the path the drink follows. Also, it is a fun way to represent the ones doing vodka shots, who swiftly want to forget the pain.

SALT: Same As Last Time

Primarily used in the medical world, this acronym means that medication or conditions have been the same as before.

The new generation is one of the most significant users of acronyms and abbreviations. Here is a list of some of the most common ones out of them:

AFK: Away From The Keyboard

This acronym denotes the person on the other end that the user is away from the device, specifically the keyboard. Hence unable to type. This acronym is mainly seen being used by people playing video games, primarily online multiplayer ones, essentially letting their squadmates know that they will not assist for the time being.

BAE: Before Anyone Else

Primarily used to express immense affection, this acronym is used to point out people or objects closest to the person's heart.

BTW: By The Way

An acronym is used when one wishes to tell someone something that may not be relevant to the current conversation, but they are excited with the information they were holding back.

CU: See You

Short for 'see you,' this acronym is for seeing someone off or telling them that they would see each other soon.

FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out

This is an acronym that expresses one's state of being. This is mainly used when a person acts restless after disassociated themselves from something they were involved in for a long time.

JOMO: Joy Of Missing Out

It is the acronym that expresses one's state of being, opposing state to FOMO. JOMO is when a person enjoys getting out of a routine they were following for no specific reason.

KK: Cool, Okay

KK mostly expresses reluctant acceptance. For instance, a son or daughter may use this to accept their parents' curfew imposed on them unwillingly.

NVM: Never Mind

It is used to let the other person know that they don't need to worry about the matter at hand anymore, maybe for it not being important anymore or for it being completed.

SMH: Shaking My Head

A social user uses this acronym to express their disbelief or disapproval of an event or happening.

Check out the extended list of social media acronyms used by GenZ:

ADIH: Another Day In Hell
AFAIK: As Far As I Know
AFAIR: As Far As I Remember
AFAIC: As Far As I’m Concerned
AFAICT: As Far As I Can Tell
ASL: Age, Sex, Location
AAMOF: As A Matter Of Fact
FTL: For The Loss
GMTA: Great Minds Think Alike
IIRC: If I Remember Correctly
IFYP: I Feel Your Pain
IYKWIM: If You Know What I Mean
MFW: My Face When
MRW: My Reaction When
SRSLY: Seriously
TIME:Tears In My Eyes
TNTL: Trying Not To Laugh
TL;DR: Too Long; Didn’t Read
WYWH: Wish You Were Here
YGTR: You Got That Right
YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary
YNK: You Never Know
ZZZ: Sleeping, Bored, Tired

Slangs Used On Social

Slangs Used On Social

BITCH: Boastful individuals that create haters, a take on people who act like a "bitch".

Clickbait: The process of luring users into clicking on a specific link.
Fam: A slang for 'family'; used to refer to a group of close ones.

Fire: A slang for excellent tasks.

HMU: Hit me up; it is used to denote asking for calling or DM.

HODL: Hold on for dear life; HODL is a cryptocurrency slang that motivates people not to sell when cryptocurrency dramatically drops or rises high. The term is used frequently on different cryptocurrency forums.

LIT: Used to define something that is most exciting at the moment.

MCM: Man Crush Monday, posting a picture of a male crush or the man you admire.

Slay: Used to praise someone's actions; to say that they are doing a great job.

WCW: Woman Crush Wednesday, posting a picture of the woman you admire or you have a crush.

WTH: What the hell/heck? WTH is used as a rhetorical question to express anger, shock, or surprise.

Social Media Acronyms Best Practices

As you have come across a few acronyms, abbreviations, and slang used extensively on social media platforms, and in general, you must know that there are many more such social media acronyms out there and that new ones are forming now and then.

Hence you need to keep updated. You can do that by making it a practice to update your stock of social media acronyms, abbreviations, and slang. Following are a few best practices of using social media acronyms:

  • You can make a database of acronyms, abbreviations, and slang you encounter along the way. To go a step further, try to categorize these social media acronyms according to their usage.

  • You should make it a habit to note the usage of social media acronyms that you come by each day. This will help you to figure out where and what acronym you should be using.

  • Try using appropriate acronyms in your posts so that they are relevant to all kinds of audience. Proper acronyms will attract the maximum audience. Also check out you tone while using the social media acronyms.

  • In the present times, you must be well versed in the commonly used acronyms and slang to stay relevant, be it your business or be it in your workplace. Weak knowledge of these social media acronyms may lead to you understanding nothing or understanding something opposite.

Thus, try to keep up with the trend and strengthen your grasp over social media acronyms, abbreviations, and slang. That's the only way to keep making relevance.

Follow this guide of social media acronyms; in the future, we'll updating the guide with more & more acronyms. Also, follow Statusbrew blogs to get more exciting & relevant content.

Book a free demo with Statusbrew to track your social conversations with your team members & respond to each query faster.

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Rajashree Goswami

Rajashree is a content creator & researcher at Statusbrew. She loves to create content that is expressive & communicative.

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