Twitterspeak

[Joyce Paige]

Twitterspeak

Since so many of us are on twitter and may want to know more about it, I have started a list of twitterspeak (some of these terms might seem familiar if you were ever on chat) to help. Some words are just changed to adjust for space such as: might becomes mite and right becomes rite. It is not that the tweep does not know how to spell; it is because the tweep needs to conserve on number of characters.

I am also going to send the link to folks asking questions regarding terms and traditions on twitter. Please feel free to add comments and I will add any new appropriate terms as you suggest them.

(will add more as I think of them or as they evolve)

Tweet – is a message of 140 characters or less. Sometimes it is just a thought or sometimes a reply to someone else’s tweet or a link to something funny, entertaining, or thought provoking.

Tweeps = my people (friends) on twitter.

RT = Retweet – when you send out the same message (either yours or someone else’s) again. (Tweeps often add additional information to the RT in parentheses or using some other method to show it is not part of the original tweet.) An RT is considered a compliment and you should thank the person who RTd your tweet. You also would like them to do it again if it is information you want to go to a wide audience - their followers are going to be different than your own and this helps you reach a wider audience than you can by yourself.

DM = Direct Message – like a private message or instant message, only the intended recipient sees it.

BBL = Be back later

BFF = best friend forever

BRB = Be right back

BTW = By the way

BC = because

B4 = before

4 = four or for (when you need to condense the tweet to fit within parameters or just want to tweet easier)

2 = two, too, and to

Twitterverse = on twitter (play on universe)

# = Hashtags – used to alert specific group that you are tweeting on a particular subject

#CGFT = Cool Gluten-Free Twibe

#gfree - gluten-free

GF = gluten-free or girl friend (consider the context)

IDK = I don't know

IMO = in my opinion

IMHO = in my humble opinion

DH = dear husband

SIL = sister in law, son in law

DIL = daughter in law

MIL = mother in law

DS = dear sister, dear son

DD = dear daughter

Thx = thanks

jk = just kidding

LOL = Laughing out loud

ROFL = Rolling on floor laughing

LMBO = Laughing my butt off - alternate version LMAO (you can figure that one out)

ROFLMBO = combo of the two above

OMG = Oh my God

TTYL = Talk to you later

TTFN = Ta Ta for now (from Tigger - I love Tigger)

#FollowFriday / #FF = follow Friday – a tradition started by tweeps on twitter to introduce new tweeps to their current tweeps. It is a recommendation that can be based on content, friendliness, willingness to follow back, or interests. Construct of the tweet should start with #FollowFriday (not #FF - shorthand is not counted by some sites that track the #followfriday recommendations) and then either the tweep's ID and why to follow them or list several tweeps. RTing the #FollowFriday is not counted by the sites either. Depends on why you are RTing whether this helps or not.

Twibes = Third party site that is linked to twitter – you can join a twibe (think tribe) of tweeps with similar interests. You can share information with other members of that twibe by posting from twibes either to just twibes or you can post to both twibes and twitter. For your posts to show, you must be a member of that twibe and use the keyword the twibe has chosen for search. Sometimes a hashtag is chosen and sometimes an unusual word that only a member might use. More information is found here: Twibes