Brand interaction and engagement is a major component of the social media platform Twitter. With a population of 230 million "active" users (according to the recent IPO filing) the user base is smaller than Facebook, and roughly just 16% of adults in the U.S. are on Twitter at all. However, Twitter users are exponentially more tuned into brands.
According to Convince and Convert, Twitter is the "the important, vocal minority." In addition to following brands, Twitter users research and engage with companies. 42% learn about products and services via Twitter. 41% provide opinions about products/services. 19% seek customer support. 49% of monthly Twitter users follow brands or companies, compared to just 16% of social network users overall. Put another way, Twitter users are 3 times more likely to follow brands than Facebook users. That information is hard to ignore if you're a social media marketer.
If you're just now jumping on the Twitter bandwagon, you may have noticed several unfamiliar Twitter abbreviations that go way beyond the simple LOL (laugh out loud, for those of you who are really behind). With a 140 character limit, it makes sense that there have become so many acronyms, but it can get confusing. Below we've compiled a list of the most used abbreviations in the twittersphere for your reference
- BC- Because
- BFN- Bye For Now
- BG- Background
- BTW- By The Way
- DM- Direct Message (the only private means of communication on the otherwise public messaging network)
- EM- Email
- FB- Facebook
- FF- Follow Friday (a way people recommend their followers in their tweets to others to follow)
- FTF- Face To Face
- HT- Hat Tip (a way of thanking the person who brought something to your attention)
- ICYMI- In Case You Missed It
- IMO- In My Opinion
- IRL- In Real Life
- JK- Just Kidding
- LI- LinkedIn
- LMAO- Laughing My A** Off
- LMK- Let Me Know
- LOL- Laugh Out Loud
- MT- Modified Tweet (when the user has to shorten the original tweet in order to make it fit)
- NSFW- Not Safe For Work
- OH- Overheard
- OMG- Oh My God
- ROFL- Rolling On the Floor Laughing
- RT- Re-Tweet (a re-posting of someone else's tweet)
- SMH- Shaking My Head
- TFTF- Thanks For The Follow
- TMB- Tweet Me Back
- TMI- Too Much Information
- TY- Thank You
- YW- You're Welcome
