A glossary for the Social Media Age

By Richard Earle

Regis Affiliate

I was browsing the Ad Age web site the other day and was directed to two columns by a guy who is intimately involved with social media on a daily basis, as exec. VP of Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services. His name is Pete Blackshaw,  and he has a wicked sense of humor.  The premise for both columns is that in the current world of social media, “we're downsizing to small screens, friending the world, thinking in 140 characters and downloading -- dare I say -- "billions and billions" of apps designed to make everything we do simpler, faster and more convenient (well, we think).

We have affixed labels and buzzwords to our curious stampede to the social media and mobile future.

Here are a few choice selections from his January column:

WIKI WART: A bad piece of news or an embarrassing brand episode (e.g., an activist protest or a social- media campaign that backfired) that just won't go away in a brand's Wikipedia description. PR pros often give false hope to brands of removing the warts, but relentless Wikipedia editors put them right back.

OEDIPOST COMPLEX: The curious neurosis that compels folks to sleep with their Blackberry or iPhone. The afflicted can't stop checking -- even in late hours -- for responses to tweets or blog and Facebook posts.

APPFUSION: An inevitable outcome of app overload. Very common among iPhone users who download so many apps they can't find their address book. Appfusion can lead to as many problems as the apps solve.

This month, declaring that due to the fast-moving nature of Social Media his glossary “is already obsolete”  (I don’t agree) he added twenty more. Here are a few examples:

App rat: A relentless app collector who is known to download apps and then leave them to gather cobwebs. Related to Appotato, a compulsive app addict.

Textgression: The curious migration of adults into youth behavior, habits and practices, especially when it comes to texting. Here our language quickly digresses into comedic short-form. R U w/me?

Like meister: That person on Facebook who "likes" everything. Borders on compulsive. Even the goofiest photos get likes.

 Wiki whipped: When you just can't change your wiki entry, under any circumstance. Often activist groups, detractors or others will completely own your entry.

Who knows? These could become the “BIZSPEAKS” of the future!