As a social media agency that prides itself on its clear and honest approach to social media, we don't like jargon. But sometimes it's hard not to use words that the rest of our industry uses. Hopefully this glossary will help you understand more about social media terminology:

Brand/consumer advocacy

Customers endorsing and supporting your brand through their own impetus.

Chat moderators

People who moderate conversations, organise content, keep people on topic and seed new conversations in online communities.

Community management

A bit like being a good party host, but in an online capactiy. Includes: managing overall conversations and ensuring the right topics are being discussed in the right place; welcoming new members, introducing and connecting people; ensuring that everything runs smoothly and that everyone has a good time.

Corporate social network

An internal peer-to-peer community used to connect people within in an organisation. Can also be used for innovation, knowledge sharing, and improving organisational efficiency.

Enterprise social media

Social media on a corporate scale; the internal use of social media within a corporation. Often positioned behind a firewall rather than open to the public.

Online community

A group of people that interact with each other primarily online to achieve a common goal, interest or aim. A community that is about ‘us’ rather than ‘me’

Online community building

The process of seeding and growing a community of people online from infancy to maturity. Management of a community’s growth to ensure productivity, member enjoyment and fulfilment of client aims.

Online research community

An online community of people brought together to help an organisation gain insights into its product, market, customer and brand. Can combine quantitative and qualitative research.

Online social networks

Websites that offer individuals a channel through which to connect and share media with their friends online (such as Facebook or MySpace). A social outlet online built for individuals.

Open innovation

An innovation process that incorporates outside expertise and opinions as well as internal expertise. In the case of online communities, this usually involves using your consumers for ideas and solutions relating to research and development.

Open source platform

A social media platform created and developed by an online community of developers that members can build on and change for their specific purposes. A Web 2.0 platform that significantly improves speed of development and innovation through continuous updating.

Search engine optimisation

Website development which aims to improve page ranking on search engines. Activity you undertake to help people find your site on search engines. In the world of social media, this primarily relates to content and link-building through user-generated content.

Social media

Social media is all about people interacting with each other online. Traditional media tends to be broadcast (from one to many). Social media, by contrast, is media sharing on a many-to-many basis. Strictly speaking, social media means the tools that people use to share content and work together online - like blogs, video sharing sites, wikis and podcasts.

Social media agency

Social media agencies specialise in promoting brands and businesses on various social media platforms and tools like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, social networking sites, online communities and discussion forums. The two key services of social media agencies are often social media marketing and online reputation management.

Social media platform

A bespoke combination of social media software, often built around a central profile and used for social media marketing.

Social media software

The technology that enables users to share media – blogs, wikis, photo sharing sites, virtual worlds, video streaming etc.

Social media tools

The technology toolkit that allows people to interact with one another online. This includes blogs, comments, tags, photo sharing, video sharing and much more.

User-generated content

Any content or media on the internet that is produced by users rather than administrators.

Web 2.0

A buzzword that attempts to describe an evolution in the web - the second-generation shift to a more collaborative use of the internet. In Web 1.0 the web had few publishers and many readers. In Web 2.0, however, everyone has the power to publish as well as read. The internet is an interactive tool used to connect with people and share knowledge through tools such as social media.

Word-of-mouth

What it says on the box: the spread of information by talking. In the case of social media, the term refers to online communication (like forum postings, emails and blogs) as well as the spoken word.

Word-of-mouth marketing aims to encourage customer advocacy by getting your customers to share positive reviews or experiences through social media.