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Social Media Guidelines

  1. Services on Campus
  2. Editorial Style Guide
  3. Social Media Guidelines

Social Media Policy

Click here to read AUC's social media policy.

Social Media and Web Terminologies

aggregator

  • A website or software that assembles information from multiple online sources.

app

  • Use application instead.

avatar

  • Graphical representation of a user.

blog

Bluetooth

check in (v.) check-in (n. and adj.)

click-thru or click-through

  • Measuring the number of clicks for a link. Often used to rate the success of online advertising campaigns.

cloud computing

  • Delivery of computer-related services through remote servers accessed online.

crowdsourcing

  • Online and offline outsourcing of a problem or task to an undefined public.

curate

  • Selecting and presenting content online, particularly with social media, in a personal manner, compared to automated news feeds.

direct message

  • A personal message sent to a follower on Twitter. DMs can only be seen by the sender and the recipient.

download

e-book

email

  • Use Email at the beginning of a sentence.
  • Avoid ending a sentence with an email address. If you have to, then add a period at the end of the sentence: To follow up on your submission, email [email protected].

emoticon

  • Avoid.

e-news

end user

e-reader

Facebook

feed

  • A news feed or stream of frequently updated content.  

Flickr

  • An online application for photo management and sharing.

Foursquare

  • Users check in at places, note their locations with a mobile phone and can find out where their friends are.

friend, follow, like

  • Acceptable as both nouns and verbs. Friend and like are used on Facebook; follow is used on Twitter.

geolocation

  • Association of one’s virtual location with the actual physical location.

geotagging

  • Adding geographical metadata to social media updates. A geotagged photo would show the latitude and longitude of the location where the photo was taken.

Google, Googled, Googling

  • Always capitalize the name of the search engine. Avoid using as a verb (Googled, Googling) to indicate searching information online.

Google+

  • A social network administered by Google.

handle

  • Username on Twitter and the accompanying URL.

hashtag

  • The number sign # used to mark keywords or subjects in a tweet.

IM

  • Use instant messaging instead. Avoid the informal verb construction: IMed, IMing.

homepage

Internet

  • Net is also acceptable.

Internet TV

iPad

iPhone 

LinkedIn

  • Professional networking site.

link shortener

listserv, listserver

  • A program that sends to a mailing list, whereby newsletters and messages are sent via one email to the entire list of subscribers. 

live blog (n. and v.)

  • A blog post that provides ongoing textual, real-time coverage of an event. Similar to live television and live radio.

log in, log out (verb)

login (adj.)

  • login information, login page, login password

mashup

  • A Web page that combines data from two or more sources, such as photos and video, to create something new.

mention

  • A Twitter update that contains @username in the body of the tweet.
  • If more than one person's name is included in the tweet that contains the @username format, all of those people will see the tweet in their personal Mentions tab.

metadata

  • Data about data.

microsite

  • A group of Web pages focused on a single topic, product or service.

modified tweet

 

  • A tweet amended before forwarding.
  • Abbreviated as MT. 

MySpace

online, offline

Pinterest 

  • A virtual pinboard and photo-sharing site where people compile and share photos of events and interests.

reply

  • A Twitter update posted by clicking the Reply button. Begins with @username (username of the person being replied to).

retweet

  • Forwarding a message or link from someone else to one’s followers on Twitter.

RSS

  • Stands for Really Simple Syndication. Subscribing to a service whereby updates from news sites, blogs, podcasts and other online content is received. RSS or RSS feed is acceptable in all references. 

scraping, mirroring

  • Copying videos, photos or audio content from one account and reposting it to another.

Skype

smartphone

social media

social networks

status

streaming

  • Also live streaming. Allows users to listen to music or watch live videos online.

subscribe

  • Subscribing to public updates from Facebook users without having to add them as friends.

tablet

  • A touch-screen device, such as an iPad, that can connect to the Internet.

tag

  • To identify someone in an online post. Usually used to identify people in photos on Facebook.

text messaging, instant messaging

trending

  • Shows that a certain topic is receiving a lot of attention on a social network, search engine or website.
  • Always describe the location of users where the topic is trending.
  • May be used as a noun or verb: A fourth-grade boy with cancer was a trending topic on Twitter last weekend. The topic of the U.S. presidential elections is trending worldwide on Twitter today.

Tumblr

  • A blogging platform.

tweet

Twitter

unfollow (v.)

unfriend (v.)

URL

user interface

  • Also referred to as user experience.

VoIP

  • Voice over Internet Protocol. Transmitting sound as data over the Internet, which allows users to make inexpensive phone calls. 

WAP

  • Wireless Application Protocol. Allows users to access information on their mobile phones.

web

webfeed

webpage

webcam

webcast

webmaster

website

widget

  • A small application that can be installed and executed within a Web page by an end user, allowing access to content or functions.

WiFi

  • Stands for wireless network. WiFi is acceptable in all references.

wiki

  • A software that allows users to modify, add, delete or share information on a website using a rich-text editor.

Wikipedia

  • Should not be used as a primary source of information.

YouTube