A-Z Of Social Media Slang

The predominantly text-based nature of the Internet, combined with its history in tech and the military, has produced a communication environment filled with jargon and acronyms. If you don’t know the difference between a WTF and an FTW worry not, this quick primer will have you chatting away like a pro in no time.

Social Media Platform-Related Jargon

FB – Facebook

IG – Instagram

LI – LinkedIn

TT – TikTok

TW – Twitter (X)

r/ – Reddit

YT – YouTube

PM – Private Message; a reference to sending someone a personal message via Facebook’s messenger service

DM – Direct Message; a Tweet sent privately to another user

Mention / Tag – When someone refers to another user by prefixing an @ to their account name on Social Media. 

RT – ReTweet; republishing someone else’s Tweet in its entirety to your own feed

MT – Modified Tweet; republishing someone else’s Tweet but adding something to it

Bio – The bio is a section on your Social Media profile for writing a short description of yourself

PFP – Profile Picture; the (usually heavily filtered) picture of the user that appears along with the bio.

VLOG – Video Log; a piece of video content

DC – Dance Credits; when a user is giving credit to another TikTok user for originating a dance they’re doing on video

IB – Inspired By; means that whatever the person is doing in the video has been inspired by another TikTok user who will often be tagged

Karma – Is a points system on Reddit that shows how much the community likes or appreciates the user

DITL – Day In The Life; a common type of YouTube video that gives a view of someone’s day

Haul – A type of YouTube video where the creator makes lots of purchases of a particular type (e.g. clothes) or in a particular store (e.g. CostCo) and shows viewers what they’ve bought

Unboxing – A YouTube video where the creator reviews a product from the initial opening of the packaging onwards

Subs – Subscribers; the YouTube users who follow a particular person’s channel

Reaction – A genre of video that focuses on the facial reactions of the creator experiencing something for the first time

Internet Acronyms And Slang A – C

AFAIK – As Far As I Know.

AITA – Am I The Arsehole. Usually prefixed to posts on Reddit where the author is soliciting opinion from the community about whether they’ve been an arse or not e.g. “AITA for telling my vegetarian friend that the sausage I gave her was Beyond Meat when it was pork?”

AMA – Ask Me Anything.

Amped – Excited e.g. “I’m amped for this gig.”

ATM – At The Moment.

Basic – Boring or uncool.

Boujee – A bastardisation of bourgeoisie and applied to people, or things, that are flash and swanky e.g. “Look at her with that Gucci bag, so boujee.”

Bump – The act of adding a new reply to an old thread to literally bump it up the page or group to make it more visible again.

Bussin – An exclamation that something is great e.g. “That film was bussin.”

Cap/No Cap – Cap is used to refer to something being fake or inauthentic; No Cap is authentic and real. Word is the phrase originates from decorative gold teeth caps.

Cancelled – Used when a person, or company, does something perceived as bad and is blocked, unfollowed or boycotted as a result.

CBA – Can’t Be Arsed.

CEO – As in business, it means Chief Executive Officer, however on Social Media it’s used to denote someone who is the best at something e.g. “CEO of daddy dancing.”

Clapback – Is used to refer to a witty or strong response to something that someone has posted.

Clickbait – A deliberately provocative title or link name that is designed to make the reader click through. Generally, there is nothing worth seeing at the destination.

CMV – Change My View. It’s mostly used on Reddit to prefix a post where the author has an opinion but is soliciting alternative views e.g. “CMV on brussel sprouts being gross.”

Cray / Cray Cray – Means crazy and can be applied to a situation or a person e.g. “He’s cray cray.”

Internet Acronyms And Slang E – J

Extra – Over the top or dramatic e.g. “Well, that was extra.” said after someone posts a rant and declares they are leaving a group.

Fam – Short for family.

Fire. An expression to use when you massively approve of something e.g. “Those sneakers. Fire.”

FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out.

FTFY – Fixed That For You. It’s usually applied when a user makes a post with a lot of grammatical errors and someone replying sarcastically corrects all the mistakes.

FTW – For The Win. Usually used in a self-deprecating or sarcastic way e.g. “Ate 3 chocolate eclairs and then had a family-sized bag of Doritos FTW.”

FWIW – For What It’s Worth.

Ghost/Ghosted – When a close friend, family or romantic partner stops making contact and disappears with no explanation.

Goals – Used when something inspires aspirational envy e.g. “Those abs is goals.”

ICYMI – In Case You Missed It. Is usually used to prefix a visual highlight of something.

I can’t even – Is used to denote that the person writing can’t explain their emotions.

IDK – I Don’t Know.

IYKYK – If You Know You Know. 

JK – Joke.

JSYK – Just So You Know.

Internet Acronyms And Slang K – N

K – Okay, sometimes also written as ‘KK’.

Lit – Used either to denote that something is amazing, but also used to denote someone’s high.

LMGTFY – Let Me Google That For You. An acronym used sarcastically in response to people who ask communities questions that could be answered quickly by a Google search. The ruder version has a second ‘F’ in it.

MCS – Main Character Syndrome. Applied to people who believe that everything is about them.

Meme – Usually an image, video or piece of text that spreads rapidly from person to person on the Internet, often with a slight change to it such as a different caption.

MFW – My Face When. Always used in tandem with an image of a facial expression to make a humorous statement e.g. “MFW I find an ice-cream pot with one scoop left in the freezer.”

Mukbang – A Korean phrase that’s used to describe a genre of video where the creator eats lots of food whilst talking to the audience

OOTD – Outfit Of The Day. Usually used on visual platforms like Instagram and TikTok to denote what the content creator is wearing.

OP – Original Post/Poster. The very first post or message in a thread and/or the first person posting. The acronym is usually when someone replies e.g. “The OP was asking for help, not judgment.”

Opp – Short for opponent and often used in gaming communities.

O RLY – Oh Really. An expression, sometimes applied sarcastically, of wide-eyed surprise.

Periodt – Used to denote that the conversation is over and you’ve had your final say. It’s unclear where the ‘t’ came from.

Nepo Baby – Refers to someone who has at least one rich, powerful or famous parent with the implication that the person probably doesn’t have to try too hard at life as a result.

NP – No Problem.

NSFW – Not Safe For Work.  It’s safe to expect that if an image is blurred and labelled NSFW it’s pornographic or extremely gory.

NVM – Never Mind.

Internet Acronyms And Slang Q – Z

Quiet Quitting – When you don’t actually quit your job, you just stop trying and do the bare minimum instead.

Salty – Used to describe someone who has over-reacted and got snappy or argumentative. 

Situationship – A term used to describe something more than friends, but less than a relationship and probably pretty transient. 

SO – Significant Other.

Shook – Used to denote if you are shocked or overwhelmed by something e.g. “Just got a €200 traffic fine. Shook!”

Stan – Used to refer to someone who’s an obsessive fan or someone of something; taken from an Eminem song of the same name.

TBH – To Be Honest.

The Ick – Something that gives you a sudden feeling of disgust.

Throwing Shade – The act of saying something negative or abusive about someone else.

TLDR – Too Long Didn’t Read. Sometimes used as a dismissive comment to a long post, but more usually these days to prefix a short summary of a longer piece e.g. “The TLDR version is…”

TIL – Today I Learned e.g. “TIL how to make bread.”

TMI – Too Much Information. An acronym that is usually reserved for when a poster has been far too detailed with something not many others want to know details about e.g. toilet habits.

Totes. Totally e.g. “Coming to the bar?”  “Totes.”

Touch Grass – A phrase meaning to go outside and usually applied sarcastically to people who never do.

Vanilla – boring.

Vibe Check – A way to ask if someone’s having a good time e.g. “Hey, vibe check?”

WFH – Working From Home.

WTF – What The F**k.  An expression of surprise.

Yas/Yaas – Yes, but in a way that conveys excitement.

YOLO – You Only Live Once.

YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary. A commonly used acronym on diet and exercise groups and forums when people are talking about issues which change from one person to another e.g. “I eat 1,200 calories to lose weight but YMMV.”