A weekly look at Wyoming business questions from the WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz Network, a partnership of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming.
By Debbie Gorski, Social Media Community Manager
"I can't read some of the tweets I receive. I think I would enjoy Twitter more if
I knew what some of these words mean," Nicole, Cheyenne
I know what you mean. When I first started to use Twitter, I would ask myself, "What
are they talking about?" Some tweets are so abbreviated that reading them is akin
to completing a cryptogram.
Tweets are limited to 140 characters and actually, you really should consider messages
to be about 120 characters to make it easier for someone to re-tweet your complete
message. Therefore, shortened words can be very helpful.
If you are using Tweetdeck, Hootsuite etc. you can shorten your tweets automatically,
but these tools won't help you decipher a tweet.
Some shortened words are obvious; r for are; w for with; u for you and clk for click,
and so on. Here is a short, G-rated list of shortened words:
B4 -- before
BFN -- bye for now
DM -- direct message
FF -- Follow Friday or #FF (used on Fridays with to recommend Twitterers for others
to follow)
GR8 -- great
IDK -- I don't know
L8 -- late or L8er--later
LMK -- let me know
PLZ -- please
PPL -- people
ROFL -- rolling on floor laughing
RTHX -- retweet thanks
WTV -- whatever
YKWIM -- you know what I mean
Also, there are many words that have been created specifically for Twitter users.
If you are a twewbie (new to Twitter), you may find this information helpful as you
enter into the Twitosphere (World of Twitter) and engage in tweeting with other Tweeple
(people using Twitter).
For a more extensive list of shortened, slang or Twitter specific words, I suggest
webopedia: http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/Twitter_Dictionary_Guide.asp.
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