The Stratton Craig social media jargon buster: Part Three (G to I)

by Stratton Craig

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In the third instalment of our series on complicated social media jargon, we’ll be covering G, H and I.
Use the following links to see previous posts in the series:
Part One (A-C)
Part Two (D-F)

Geotagging: The defining of tagged websites, images and RSS feeds by location, rather than by date or topic. Geotags go further than just latitude and longitude – for mountaintop shots, you can even find out the altitude and the direction the photographer was facing.
Government 2.0: The digital interaction between a government and citizens, employees and businesses, also known as an ‘e-Government’. As the use of online discussion platforms has risen, government bodies have seen the need to move their comms online.
Groundswell: A building feeling or sentiment amongst a large chunk of the population. In the context of social media, groundswell describes information spreading online through sharing and comments. This can be a positive or negative reaction – with the latter usually having far more impact.
Hack: Contrary to the negative, ‘I’ve just nicked your password’ meaning of hack, in this context it refers to making your social media use more efficient and productive. Listening to blogs as podcasts whilst you’re on the train is a ‘hack’, as is scheduling content to be shared at ideal times of day.
HT: Stands for ‘Hat Tip’, and is used to give credit to other Twitter users. Joining other two-letter acronyms for the site, such as RT (retweet) and MT (modified tweet), adding HT shows that you’ve taken the original tweet from another named user rather than aiming it at them.
Hyperlocal: Online news or groups specific to an area, town or even a single postcode. Being able to interact with other global internet users in a flash has quickly redefined the idea of ‘local’. Hyperlocal communities bring together all of the specific, relevant news for one geographical area.
Influencer: Someone with a lot of clout, especially through social media. Are you the kind of person who always gets plenty of retweets, likes and shares? If so, you’re an influencer in your community – and this potentially makes you very valuable to advertisers.
Informal learning: The human ability to learn anywhere, outside of the classroom and other typical ‘education’ environments. It’s relevant to social media because we get so much of our news from it now: Facebook and Twitter are now earlier sources of information than the TV.
IRC: One of the earliest chatrooms, and as a result probably unfamiliar to many. IRC stands for ‘Internet Relay Chat’, a name that betrays its age. Through an internet connection and IRC chat client, it’s possible to join live chats with other global users.
The next step in our alphabetic list will be J to L – come back soon to see which words we’ve picked. We’re also accepting suggestions – send some ideas through our ‘contact us’ page or tweet @strattoncraig with some of your favourites.