Social Media Acronyms and Slang: What’s New in 2024?

Social media lives by the mantra of ‘less is more’ and we often see its glimpses in the form of new social media acronyms and slang.

And if you’re someone who isn’t spending a great deal of time scrolling on your phone, these internet acronyms can seem like an alien language.  

To ensure that doesn’t happen, we have compiled a list of social media slang and abbreviations you should know in 2024! As time passes, we will keep adding more to this list and keep it updated for you. 

So, let’s dive right in! 

Platform-Specific Social Media Acronyms 

Most of the social media acronyms in this list are self-explanatory, but let’s quickly recap before moving on to advanced ones. 

FB – Facebook

IG – Instagram

SC – Snapchat 

PI – Pinterest

LI – LinkedIn

YT – YouTube

TW(𝕏) – Twitter (Now known as 𝕏) 

You will also find that each social media platform has specific slang and abbreviations used commonly: 

DM – Direct Message 

DM refers to any type of message exchanged between two users. These messages are found in the private inbox of either user and can’t be read by any third party. Another term for DM is PM, which stands for Private Message. 

RT – Retweet 

Before Twitter was rebranded to 𝕏, every post was known as Tweet. As such, RT (Retweet) is defined as the act of sharing someone else’s tweet on your timeline. Now, the term is officially known as Repost, but RT is still the more accepted term. 

RTs are important as they can help boost your Twitter engagement rate and get more eyes on your profile. 

H/T – Hat Tip 

H/T stands for hat tip and denotes the act of tipping your hat to someone to pay gratitude. It is mostly used on 𝕏 and can be utilized to address the source of news, tweets, memes, etc. 

For example: check out how a Football news-sharing page credits another one as the source of information. 

Social Media Acronyms for Business Conversations 

Gone are the days when business conversations were free of trendy slang and acronyms. Today, you’ll find it being actively used in marketing, communications, and other fields. Here are some common terms you should know about. 

B2B – Business to Business 

B2B is a type of transaction that takes place between two businesses. This term is also used to refer to organizations that deal with other businesses, instead of consumers. 

D2C – Direct-to-Consumer 

D2C is a business transaction that takes place between a company and the customer. B2C (Business to Consumer) is another term used to describe D2C businesses. 

ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival

While ETA is prominently repeated in corporate offices, its usage isn’t limited to the business world. 

ETA tells you about the estimated time of arrival of any particular thing like a report, presentation, parcel, or even a vehicle reaching a destination.  

CTA – Call to Action 

Social media is filled with action-inducing terms like Sign up now, Start your free trial, and Buy now. Such phrases prompt the user to take immediate action and click on a specific link or button. 

ROI – Return on Investment 

ROI is the measure of money earned after investing a particular sum to get that earning. Remember, ROI doesn’t equal profit but can help understand if your efforts are running in a profitable direction or not. 

Here’s How to measure your Social media ROI in a few simple steps. 

SoLoMo – Social, Local, Mobile 

SoLoMo is one of those abbreviations on the internet that have left many marketers confused. SoLoMo stands for Social, Local, and Mobile, and is used to denote a marketing strategy that focuses on region-based social marketing. 

Technical Acronyms for Social Media Marketers 

Social media and tech aren’t entirely disconnected. As someone who’s actively managing social media or digital marketing for a brand, you need to be aware of technical internet acronyms for day-to-day use. 

API – Application Programming Interface 

API is a set of tools and protocols that act as software intermediaries and can help extract and share data between two applications. In marketing, APIs are used to automate repetitive tasks and perform cross-platform operations seamlessly. 

CMS – Content Management System 

CMS is a collaborative application where multiple team members can easily create, edit, publish, or manage content. CMS not only streamlines your workflow but can also help update websites remotely. 

ESP – Email Service Provider 

You can manually send emails to 5, 10, or maybe even 50 people. But when the subscriber list has thousands of members, ESP is a must for all marketers. 

ESP is software that automates the email-sending process with just a click. Additionally, it can provide multiple features like customizable email templates, CRM or CMS integrations, and audience segmentation. 

RSS – Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary 

RSS is a standardized system used to deliver content from regularly updated sites, like blogs or news portals. RSS presents the site in the form of an XML file that is computer-compatible. Here, the user doesn’t need to visit the website repeatedly to check for any impending updates. 

10 Popular Social Media Slangs 

Deciphering the social media language can be hard, especially if you’re not very updated with the latest trends. Some of the common social media slang used commonly right now are: 

I can’t even: Sounds like an incomplete sentence, right? In social media language, ‘I can’t even’ describes a feeling that has left the user speechless, either due to joy or frustration. 

It me: A term that conveys the emotion of relatability in a conversation. 

Highkey: Opposite of lowkey and used to tell or flex something out in the open. For example, this was highkey the best movie I’ve ever watched. 

Photobomb: To photobomb someone is to enter their picture frame uninvited at the last moment. 

Period: You can use this social media slang to put a full stop to any conversation or argument. 

Troll: A troll can be a person or a situation where someone tries to unnecessarily mock or provoke someone on the internet. 

Clout: Refers to any fame or attention collected on the internet.

Gatekeep: To gatekeep something means to keep the information to yourself. For example: if you visit a new cafe and refuse to divulge its whereabouts, you’re gatekeeping it. 

Touch grass: Touch grass is another version of asking someone to get a grip if they say something inappropriate or highly irrelevant.  

Doom Scrolling: Doom scrolling is the act of endlessly scrolling negative news or social media content. It’s like getting stuck in a disaster news rabbit hole.