Social Media Terms ALL Parents Need to Know

Brute-force attack
Repetitive successive attempts of trying various password combinations to break into someone else's website or account.

Catfishing
When a person creates a fake identity on a social network, usually with the intention of deceiving a specific victim.

Clickbait
Internet content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page. Click-bait headlines typically aim to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make readers of news websites curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content.

Copypasta
Blocks of text which get copy and pasted across the Internet by individuals through online forums and social networking websites, to the point of becoming spam.

Cramming
The fraudulent practice of adding unauthorized charges to a customer's phone bill.

Cyberbully
Any form of bullying that takes place using electronic devices. Cyberbullying is repeated and intentional harm towards someone online, on social media, or through texting.

Dark web
A collection of websites that exist on an encrypted network and cannot be found by using traditional search engines or visited by using traditional browsers. The dark web is full of criminal activity.

DM or PM
"Direct message" or "private message", respectively.

Doxing or Doxxing
Publishing personal or identifying information about a particular individual online, typically with the intent to do harm.

Facetune
Facetune is a photo editing application used to edit, enhance, and retouch photos on a user’s iPhone, iPad or Android device. The app is often used for portrait and selfie editing. Features allow users to whiten teeth, remove blemishes, smooth skin, reshape, defocus and blur.

Follow
In social media, a follow represents a user who chooses to see all of another user's posts in their content feed.

GIF
A type of computer file that contains a still or moving image. GIF is the abbreviation for "Graphic Interchange Format."

Grooming
The action by a pedophile of preparing a child for a meeting, especially via an Internet chat room, with the intention of committing a sexual offense.

Hashtag
A word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media websites and applications, to identify messages on a specific topic. Typically hashtags are searchable on the platform it was posted on.

Influencer
A person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media.

Lurking
Spying on others online while remaining invisible.

Malware
Software that is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system.

Meme
An activity, concept, catchphrase, or piece of media that spreads, often as mimicry or for humorous purposes, from person to person via the Internet. A meme usually takes the form of an image, GIF, or video. It can also be just a word or phrase.

Phishing
The act of sending emails pretending to be from reputable companies in order to get individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Private Groups
A separate area of social networks where only designated users can communicate with one another. Private groups are popular on Facebook.

Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that holds your personal digital data for ransom. Those affected by ransomware cannot gain access to their personal data without paying a fine. Most ransomware is disguised as a valid file to be downloaded or opened in an email.

Scareware
Malicious computer programs designed to trick a user into buying and downloading unnecessary and potentially dangerous software, such as fake antivirus protection.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
A marketing discipline focused on growing visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results.

Selfie
A self-portrait type image, typically taken with a smartphone which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick.

Snapstreak
When Snapchat friends send a message or photo to each other every day, they create a "snapstreak" or "streak."

Spam
Using electronic messaging systems to send an unsolicited message, email is the most common platform for spam but it can also be sent via text or on social media.

Spoofing
When a person or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data, to gain an illegitimate advantage.

Spyware
A form of malware that hides on your device, monitors your activity, and steals sensitive information like bank details and passwords.

Subscribe
Typically used to describe a user who chooses to see all of another user's posts in their content feed on YouTube. Subscribe can be used on other social media networks but it's most commonly used when referring to YouTube.

Swatting
When someone makes a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to dispatch armed police officers to a particular address.

Troll or Trolling
Deliberately using the internet to provoke others. Trolling isn't necessarily focused on insulting others or being rude, it's more about tricking people into believing you or playing pranks.