Social Media Glossary

Quick Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

A/B testing: Comparing two versions of an ad or post to see which performs better

Account reach: The number of unique people who saw content from an account

Account status: A dashboard showing whether an account is in good standing or has violations

Ad account: The container used to manage ads, billing, and reporting

Ad account spending limit: A cap that restricts how much an ad account can spend

Ad auction: The automated system platforms use to decide which ads appear

Ad break: A short advertisement shown during or around video content

Ad creative: The visual and text elements of an ad

Ad fatigue: Performance decline caused by showing the same ad too often

Ad frequency: The average number of times a person sees an ad

Ad learning phase: The period when a platform tests and optimizes ad delivery

Ad recall lift: A metric estimating how many people remember seeing an ad

Ad relevance diagnostics: Meta metrics explaining how well an ad matches its audience

Ad relevance score: A quality score estimating how relevant an ad is

Ad set: A grouping of ads with shared targeting and budget settings

Ad spend: The total amount of money spent on advertising

Ad suitability: Controls that limit where ads can appear for brand safety

Ads Manager (Meta): Meta’s tool for creating and managing Facebook and Instagram ads

Ads Manager (TikTok): TikTok’s dashboard for paid advertising

Advanced matching: A Facebook feature that improves tracking by matching hashed user data

Affiliate links: Trackable links that earn commission when purchases are made

Age-restricted content: Content limited to users above a certain age

Algorithm: Automated rules that determine which content users see

Algorithmic feed: A feed ordered by predicted relevance rather than time

Algorithmic suppression: Reduced distribution caused by quality or policy signals

Alt text: A written description of an image for accessibility and discoverability

Amplification: Increasing reach through paid promotion or sharing

Analytics dashboard: A reporting interface showing content performance

Annotations: Legacy clickable notes formerly used in YouTube videos

Appeal decision: A request to review or reverse a content or account penalty

Archive: Hiding a post without permanently deleting it

Assisted conversions: Conversions influenced but not directly caused by an ad

Attribution modeling: Rules that determine how conversions are credited

Audio library: A built-in collection of licensed music and sounds

Audience Network: Meta’s system for showing ads on third-party apps and sites

Audience overlap: The degree to which two audiences share the same users

Audience retention: How long viewers continue watching a video

Audience targeting: Selecting who sees ads or content

Authorized ads: Ads run by approved partners on behalf of a brand

Auto captions: Automatically generated subtitles

Auto-scroll: Automatic playback of the next video

Average watch time: The average amount of time viewers watch content

B

Back catalog monetization: Earning revenue from older content

Badged live: Instagram Live feature allowing viewers to tip creators

Behavioral targeting: Targeting ads based on user behavior

Bio: The profile section describing an account

Bio link: A clickable link in a profile bio

Blue checkmark: A verification badge showing account authenticity

Boost post: Turning an organic post into a paid ad

Brand affinity: How strongly users feel connected to a brand

Brand lift study: A survey-based measurement of ad impact

Brand safety: Protecting brands from appearing next to harmful content

Brand safety controls: Settings preventing ads from appearing near unsafe content

Broadcast channel: One-to-many messaging channel on Instagram

Broadcast list: Sending a single message to multiple recipients

Bumper ads: Six-second non-skippable YouTube ads

C

CTA (call to action): Instructions telling users what to do next

Campaign budget optimization (CBO): Automatically distributing budget across ad sets

Carousel ads: Ads with multiple swipeable images or videos

Channel memberships: Paid YouTube subscriptions with exclusive perks

Channel strikes: Penalties issued to YouTube channels for policy violations

Click attribution window: Time period during which a click earns conversion credit

Click-through rate (CTR): Percentage of impressions that result in clicks

Clips: Short highlights taken from longer videos

Collab post: A shared post appearing on multiple profiles

Collection ads: Shopping-focused ads with multiple products

Comment filters: Tools that hide comments with specific words

Comment pinning: Fixing a comment to the top of a thread

Community Guidelines strike: A penalty for violating platform rules

Community management: Moderating and engaging with audiences

Community tab: YouTube section for posts and polls

Content calendar: A schedule for publishing content

Content ID: YouTube’s copyright detection system

Conversion: A completed desired action

Conversion API (CAPI): Server-side conversion tracking for Meta

Cost per click (CPC): Cost paid for each ad click

Cost per mille (CPM): Cost per 1,000 impressions

Creator Fund (TikTok): Discontinued program paying creators for views

Creator marketplace: Platform connecting brands with creators

Creator search insights: TikTok data showing popular searches

Creator Studio (legacy): Older Meta management tool

Cross-device attribution: Tracking conversions across devices

Cross-posting: Publishing the same content on multiple platforms

Custom audiences: Targeting groups built from customer data

D

Dark post: An ad that does not appear on a public profile

Daily budget: Maximum spend allowed per day

Delayed attribution: Conversions credited days after interaction

Discovery ads: YouTube ads shown in search and recommendations

Discovery tab (Instagram): Section for finding new content

Direct message (DM): A private message between users

Download suppression: Preventing others from downloading content

Drop campaigns: Creator-led product launch promotions

Duet: TikTok side-by-side response video

Dynamic creative: Automatically testing ad variations

E

Earned media: Exposure gained without paid promotion

Earned views: Views gained organically

End screens: Clickable elements at the end of YouTube videos

Engagement: Likes, comments, shares, and saves

Engagement rate: Engagement divided by reach or followers

Enhanced conversions: Improved tracking using hashed data

Estimated monetized playbacks: YouTube views that generated revenue

F

Fan funding: Direct viewer payments to creators

Fan stars: Facebook tipping currency

Facebook pixel: Website tracking code for Meta ads

Feed: The main content stream users scroll

For You Page (FYP): TikTok’s main discovery feed

For You eligibility: Factors determining TikTok feed placement

Frequency: Average number of times an ad is shown

G

Geo-targeting: Targeting by geographic location

Green screen effect: Background replacement video effect

H

Hashtag: A keyword preceded by # used for discovery

Hashtag challenge: A participation-driven TikTok trend

Hashtag page: Feed showing all posts using a hashtag

Hidden likes: Option to hide public like counts

Homepage takeover: Full-screen ad shown when opening an app

Hook: The opening seconds of a video

I

Impression: A single display of content

Influencer marketing: Partnering with creators to promote products

In-stream ads: Ads appearing during video playback

Instagram Notes: Short text updates in inboxes

Instagram Subscriptions: Paid access to exclusive creator content

Interest expansion: Automatically broadening ad targeting

Invalid traffic: Fake or low-quality interactions removed from data

K

Key moments: Highlighted video sections

L

Lead ads: Ads that collect contact information within the platform

Link in bio: The primary clickable profile link

Live gifts (TikTok): Virtual items sent to creators during live streams

Live replay: Recording of a completed live stream

Live redirect: Sending viewers to another live stream

Long-form monetization: Earning revenue from longer videos

Lookalike audience: Targeting people similar to existing customers

M

Manual copyright claim: Copyright enforcement action on YouTube

Meta Business Suite: Tool for managing Meta accounts and messages

Meta Verified: Paid verification and protection subscription

Mid-roll ads: Ads placed in the middle of videos

Moderation queue: Area for reviewing flagged comments

Monetization threshold: Minimum requirements to earn revenue

Monetized views: Views eligible to generate revenue

Music Commercial Library (Meta): Licensed music for business use

N

Native advertising: Ads that resemble organic content

Non-skippable ads: Ads that must be watched in full

O

On-platform checkout: Purchasing without leaving the app

Organic reach: Unpaid content visibility

Original audio: User-created sound used by others

Overlay ads: Semi-transparent banner ads on videos

P

Partner monetization policies: Rules for earning ad revenue

Pinned comment: Highlighted comment at the top

Pinned post: A post fixed to the top of a profile

Playlists: Organized collections of videos

Post insights: Performance data for a post

Post-roll ads: Ads shown after videos

Pre-roll ads: Ads shown before videos

Profile reach: Unique users who viewed a profile

R

Reach: Number of unique users who saw content

Reels: Short-form vertical videos on Meta platforms

Reels bonus program: Temporary Meta creator incentive

Remix: Side-by-side response to a Reel

Retargeting: Advertising to previous visitors

Revenue attribution: Assigning income to content or ads

Revenue RPM: Earnings per 1,000 views

Rights manager: Copyright management tool

S

SEO (social): Optimizing content for platform search

Shadowban: Reduced visibility without notification

Shopping tags: Product links in posts

Shorts feed: YouTube’s vertical video stream

Shorts revenue sharing: Monetization program for Shorts

Sound sync: Automatic beat alignment

Spam strikes: Penalties for spam violations

Spark ads: TikTok ads boosting organic posts

Split testing: Testing multiple versions of ads

Stitch: TikTok clip response feature

Stories: Disappearing vertical content

Stories ads: Full-screen ads between Stories

Story highlights: Saved Instagram Stories

Suggested videos: Algorithm-recommended videos

Subscription revenue share: Portion of subscription fees paid to creators

Super chats: Paid highlighted live messages

Super thanks: One-time video tips

T

Tag products: Linking products in posts

Text-to-speech: Automated voice narration

Thumbnail: Video preview image

Thumbnail CTR: Click rate of thumbnails

TikTok Pulse: Premium TikTok ad revenue sharing program

Top ads placement: Premium feed positioning

Trending sounds: Rapidly popular audio

Two-step verification: Additional login security

U

UGC (user-generated content): Content created by customers

Unlisted video: Link-only visible video

Upload frequency: How often content is published

V

Value-based lookalikes: Audiences built from top customers

Video chapters: Clickable video sections

Video copyright match: Detected copyrighted content

Video monetization eligibility: Whether a video can earn revenue

View-through attribution: Conversion credit after ad views

Viral: Rapid content spread

W

Watch page ads (YouTube): Ads shown on video watch pages

Watch time: Total time spent watching videos

Watch time percentage: Portion of a video watched

Watermark removal: Removing platform logos

Webhooks: Automated data notifications

Y

YouTube Partner Program (YPP): Program allowing YouTube monetization

YouTube Studio: Dashboard for managing YouTube channels