Social media language: The 60 new abbreviations

By Newsday | Jul. 13, 2014

An emerging list of new-age abbreviations have begun to dominate the way social media users connect and communicate - and it is only set to get longer.

LOL, OMG and ILY top the list, with more than 2 million uses by Australians
WeAreSocial.com.au monitored Twitter for three months to gather data
Despite growing list of acronyms, people are also returning to full words
The use of these words are usually accompanied by a form of visual media

An emerging list of new-age abbreviations have begun to dominate the way social media users connect and communicate – and it is only set to get longer.

social-chat-abbreviations

The minefield of new meanings, at least according to social media marketing agency wearesocial.com.au, have grown from the days of the simple yet effective LOL (Laughing Out Loud) abbreviation to a list as long as 60.

And the social media savvy are now employing them in every day communication.

Those using the abbreviations do so as a tactic for speed in text communication, a university professor on linguistics said, while others just choose to do so because they are a code that older people don’t quite understand.

WeAreSocial.com.au managing director Julian Ward said the various different shortcuts, which range from the the compassionate ILY (I Love You) to the more profain WTF (What the F***) are commonplace now and indicate the changing way people harness social media.

Using social listening tools, WeAreSocial.com.au monitored trending terms used by Australians on Twitter from April 1 to June 30.

The top ranking term was, LOL which was used a total of 1,242,935.

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‘We can see a range of clever to practical acronyms as people look for speed and limited thumb work – plus of course it feels good to be in the know, especially on more subversive terms,’ Mr Ward said.

But now the abbreviations have become so complex that if sent alone without an accompanying graphic or visual element to give them context, have no meaning.

‘The use of abbreviation should not be considered in isolation, rather as a set of activities that enhance efficiencies but importantly satisfy our need for a greater range of self expression,’ Mr Ward said.

‘The accelerating trend to express through visual stories. Short videos, plus the pervasiveness of the GIF, exploding out of Tumblr and now even adopted by Twitter.’

1. LOL: Laugh out loud 2. OMG: Oh my god 3. ILY: I love you 4. LMAO: Laughing my a** off 5. WTF: What the f***? 6. PPL: People 7. IDK: I don’t know? 8. TBH: To be honest 9. BTW: By the way 10. THX: Thanks 11. SMH: Shaking my head 12. FFS: For f***’s sake 13. AMA: Ask me anything 14. FML: F*** my life 15. TBT: Throwback Thursday 16. JK: Just kidding 17. IMO: In my opinion 18. YOLO: You only live once 19. ROFL: Rolling on the floor laughing 20. MCM: Mancrush Monday 21. IKR: I know right? 22. FYI: For your information 23. BRB: Be right back 24. GG: Good game 25.IDC: I don’t care 26. TGIF: Thank God it’s Friday 27. NSFW: Not safe for work 28. ICYMI: In case you missed it 29. STFU: Shut the f*** up 30. WCW: Womancrush Wednesday 31. IRL: In real life

32. BFF: Best friends forever 33. OOTD: Outfit of the day 34. FTW: For the win 35. Txt: Text 36. HMU: Hit me up 37. HBD: Happy birthday 38. TMI: Too much information 39. NM: Not much 40. GTFO: Get the f*** out 41. NVM: Nevermind 42. DGAF: Don’t give a f*** 43. FBF: Flashback Friday 44. DTF: Down to f*** 45. FOMO: Fear of missing out 46. SMFH: Shaking my f***ing head 47. OMW: On my way 48. POTD: Photo of the day 49. LMS: Like my status 50. GTG: Got to go 51. ROFLMAO: Rolling on floor laughing my a*** off 52. TTYL: Talk to you later 53. AFAIK: As far as I know 54. LMK: Let me know 55. PTFO: Passed the f*** out 56. SFW: Safe for work 57. HMB: Hit me back 58. TTYS: Talk to you soon 59. FBO: Facebook Official 60. TTYN: Talk to you never *Provided by wearesocial.com.au