New Media Glossary
This is an evolving list of 'must know' terms that I thought would help people new to the Web scene to be acquainted more quickly. It's definitely not an exhaustive list of stuff, but more of an evolving collection of terms that I think would pique your curiosity about Web 2.0 and Social Media. Hope it helps. If you feel a strong need for a particular term to be listed here, please feel free to write to me and I'll look into it pronto!
Updated 12 Apr 09: Special thanks to Ms Bridgette Collado who has been contributing material into this glossary page!
________________________________________________________________
Avatars
An avatar is a virtual representation of a user in an online forum. Avatars can take three- and two-dimensional forms as well as text. Forums for avatars include games, social networking sites, blogs, wikis, etc. – anywhere a user has the option to have a virtual icon. For more information visit, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(computing)#In_instant-messaging_programs.
Badges
Graphic brand endorsement displayed on a website. Though originally used to promote web standards, products used in the creation of a web page or product, or to indicate a specific content license, badges are now also being used for marketing purposes in public health. Badges can be downloaded and displayed with a health message or in support of a condition – for example, see the American Cancer Society’s “I fight cancer” badge campaign at http://community.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=C_EA_WB_home.
Botnet
A botnet derives its name from the term roBOT NETwork, and it is also known as a 'zombie army.' It is basically a network of hacked computers that are used to insidiously generate and send spam or viruses, or even flood another network with messages as a denial of service (DoS) attack. According to Answers.com, there is a booming botnet business that sells lists of compromised computers to hackers and spammers. The dangers of botnets, which starts off with the sending of a Trojan virus to an unprotected computer, is essentially threefold:
(1) Logging keystrokes to 'fish' out anything that may look like security passwords;
(2) Redirecting users to fake shopping sites that no nothing more than record credit card security details;
(3) Generate and send out SPAM to flood other networks, the worse of which results in the crippling of services (also known as a DoS).
Read more about Botnets on RT @BBCClick: Spencer has written an article about the botnet investigation: http://tinyurl.com/dnxra9.
Flock 2.0
Flock 2.0 is a web browser, just like Netscape, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. However, Flock appears to be attuned to the needs of social media by bringing together onto one common space the common social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and others. What makes this browser so unique is that it automatically tracks and updates the latest entries and statuses of the user's network of friends, from their latest tweets, Facebook entries to photos and more. Other features like RSS and emails are also integrated to make Flock a one-stop solution with great potential.
Mashup
A web development technique that combines applications from different sources to create a new tool that provides a new function from that of either of the original sources.
Micro-blogging
Brief messages, either in text (usually up to 140 characters/keystrokes in length), photo, or audio format, that are published to a social networking, or other micro-blog site. Twitter, Facebook, and Plurk are examples of such sites.
Podcasts
Per the podcast entry on wikipedia.org, a podcast is, “a series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, which is made available for download via Web syndication. The syndication aspect of the delivery is what differentiates podcasts from other files accessible by direct download or streaming: it means that special software applications, generically known as podcatchers (such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes or Nullsoft's Winamp), can automatically identify and retrieve new files associated with the podcast when they are made available, and that these files can be stored locally on the user's computer or other device for offline use. This is done by the podcatcher accessing a centrally-maintained Web feed, which lists files associated with a certain podcast. Like the term broadcast, podcast can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which the content is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. A podcaster is the person who creates the content.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting)
RSS
Similar to a podcast, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a broadcast tool, however, it syndicates text rather than audio or video files.
Social Media Release (SMR)
A SMR is a social media based communication tool that is used as an adjunct to the traditional media release. A SMR, unlike the traditional news release, is not distributed over the wire but exists on a blog platform which enhances the ability to share and distribute its contents. The key content from the traditional release is summarized as bulleted points on the SMR. In addition, tools such as vlogs (video logs), podcasts and photo libraries allow an SMR to tell a much richer and customized story than its traditional counterpart. Much of this has to do with the fact that a rich array of the information goes straight out consumers in the market instead of being mediated by the press. The use of key words and phrases in the body of the SMR helps the information to be search engine optimized, and consequently, for it to go viral on the web. The blog platform, which tends to enable readers to post their comments about the content, tends to create conversation, and this is one of the key strengths of the SMR in harnessing public feedback. For more information about the SMR, refer to Social Media Releases - A Report from the Field and How To Write a Social Media Release - for everyone involved in PR, marketing
Social networking
Social networking services focus on the creation of online communities. Users share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. For a list of social networking sites, refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites.
Tags, clouds, and social bookmarking - folksonomy
A tag cloud or word cloud is a visual depiction of user-generated tags, or simply the word content of a site, used typically to describe the content of Web sites. Tags are usually single words and are typically listed alphabetically, and the importance of a tag is shown with font size or color. Thus both finding tags by alphabet and by popularity are possible. The tags are usually hyperlinks that lead to a collection of items that are associated with a tag. Social bookmarking makes use of tags in order to reference a Web page for public, private, and group sharing. This collection of metadata (social tagging, bookmarking, etc.) is known as a folksonomy. See http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/papers/tags/ for a thorough discussion.
Videologs (vlogs)
A form of blogging in which the medium is a video file. Posts are usually accompanied by text, image, and additional metadata to provide a context or overview for the video. Vlogs or videoblogs are created by vloggers or videobloggers, while the act itself is referred to as vlogging or videoblogging.
Web widgets
According to widgets-gadets.com, a Web widget is a mini-Web application you can put in your Web page, blog, or social profile. The widget can provide visitors with user specific information, extra functionality, and/or entertainment. Widgets are available in a ready-to-use formats, and are customizable by the user. It can take the form of pictures, graphs, statistics, numbers, etc.and communications, both by Brian Solis.
Weblog (Blog)
According to Technorati, a weblog, or 'blog' is a personal journal on the Web. There are as many blogs as there are bloggers out there in what is known as 'blogosphere,' and cover a vibrant and diverse range of topics and opinions. Some blogs have, over the course of time, built up a steady readersip and influence while others remain more isolated sites for personal and closed-group consumption. Some are deadly serious while others are insanely hilarious. Of course, there are also blogs that may seem nothing more like spam to readers, so it's quite a motley collection out there.
Wikis
According to O’Reilly Net, a wiki is a website that can be modified by its users in their Web browser. Users can add, edit, and remove pages in a collaborative effort to share information. Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) is the best known example. To learn more about starting a wiki, visit http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2006/07/07/what-is-a-wiki.html?page=1.
For More Information...
For additional terms, visit the webopedia web 2.0 glossary of terms at http://www.webopedia.com/Web_2_0/.