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 publications@aucegypt.edu.

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

• Avoid long URLs.
• If you have to split a URL across two lines, end the line with a slash.
• Use http:// only for websites that don’t begin with www: http://catalog.aucegypt.edu; otherwise, drop the http: www.aucegypt.edu, not http://www.aucegypt.edu

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