Home Documents Appendix I: Definition of Terms

Appendix I: Definition of Terms

Back to CBCP Pastoral Guidelines on the Use of Social Media

Algorithm An algorithm is a set of formulas developed for a computer to perform a certain function. This is important in the social sphere as the algorithms sites like Facebook and Google use are critical for developing content promotion strategies.
Chat Chat can refer to any kind of communication over the internet but traditionally refers to one-to-one communication through a text-based chat application, commonly referred to as instant messaging (IM) applications.
Comment A comment is a response that is often provided as an answer or reaction to a post or message on a social network.
Direct Message Direct messages — also referred to as “DMs” — are private conversations that occur on Twitter. Both parties must be following one another to send a message.
Facebook Group Groups provide a space for people to communicate about shared interests. Groups can be created by anyone.
Facebook Page Pages allow real organizations, businesses, celebrities and brands to communicate broadly with people who like them. Pages may only be created and managed by official representatives.
Follower In a social media setting, a follower refers to a person who subscribes to your account in order to receive your updates.
Friends Friends is the term used on Facebook to represent the connections you make and the people you follow. These are individuals you consider to be friendly enough with you to see your Facebook profile and engage with you.
Handle Handle is the term used to describe someone’s @username on Twitter. For example, CBCP News’ Twitter handle is @cbcpnews
Hashtag A hashtag is a tag used on a variety of social networks as a way to annotate or categorize a message. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a “#” (i.e. #News #Gospel #Love). Social networks use hashtags to categorize information and make it easily searchable for users.
Instant Messaging Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time, direct text-based communication between two or more people. More advanced instant messaging software clients also allow enhanced modes of communication, such as live voice or video calling.
Like A Like is an action that can be made by a Facebook or Instagram user. Instead of writing a comment or sharing a post, a user can click the Like button as a quick way to show approval.
Meme A meme on the internet is used to describe a thought, idea, joke, or concept that’s widely shared online. It is typically an image with text above and below it, but can also come in video and link form.
Mention A mention is a Twitter term used to describe an instance in which a user includes someone else’s @username in their tweet to attribute a piece of content or start a discussion.
News Feed A news feed is literally a feed full of news. On Facebook, the News Feed is the homepage of users’ accounts where they can see all the latest updates from their friends. The news feed on Twitter is called Timeline.
Reply A reply is a Twitter action that allows a user to respond to a tweet through a separate tweet that begins with the other user’s @username. This differs from a mention, because tweets that start with an @username only appears in the timelines of users who follow both parties.
Retweet A retweet is when someone on Twitter sees your message and decides to re-share it with his or her followers. A retweet button allows them to quickly resend the message with attribution to the original sharer’s name.
Tag Tagging is a social media functionality commonly used on Facebook and Instagram that allows users to create a link back to the profile of the person shown in the picture or targeted by the update.
Troll A troll or internet troll refers to a person who is known for creating controversy in an online setting. They typically hang out in forums, comment sections, and chat rooms with the intent of disrupting the conversation on a piece of content by providing commentary that aims to evoke a reaction.
Viral Viral is a term used to describe a content that spreads far and wide in so short a time.