A logical fallacy common in internet arguments, when someone attacks a person delivering an argument instead of the argument itself.
A second social media account, usually kept anonymous.
Age/sex/location. An old-school chat room term to ask people to introduce themselves.
A penis.
When you have a real-time conversation with someone on the side of, and in relation to, a larger group chat – for example, WhatsApping a friend one-on-one while also participating in a group chat on the same subject. Also called a side chat.
A self-portrait taken from a vantage point such that your most prominent feature is your derrière. (A ‘bum selfie’, if we’re being less delicate.)
When someone doesn’t immediately respond to your message but you can see the two little blue ticks indicating they’ve read it – thus proving that they’re just heartlessly ignoring you. Also called ‘being left on read’.
A fake account run by a software application instead of a human being.
Sending occasional messages to a dating prospect in order to keep them interested without having to invest too much effort or commitment.
Coined by presenter Alix Fox in reference to the cartoon ‘friendly ghost’, caspering is when you cut off communications with a romantic prospect (‘ghost’ them) but only after sending one last message to politely explain that you’re moving on.
Someone who pretends to be someone they’re not online, often in the context of online dating. A catfish uses a fake identity and images to lure in suitors who otherwise might not be interested.
A troll who poses as an ally but is actually an opponent, and tries to undermine the cause by raising feigned ‘concerns’ about the issue at hand in order to sow doubt and discord among legitimate supporters.
The time of year from around November to March when online daters forgo playing the field to instead settle down and snuggle up with someone through the winter.
The mortifying moment when you’re swiping through your crush’s years-old Instagram posts and your finger accidentally hits the ‘like’ button, resulting in them receiving a notification and making you look like the creepy stalker you are.
Doxing (also spelled doxxing) is when you publish personal or identifying information about someone online, such as their real name, address, phone number or other details they do not wish to make public. Doxing is often used as a means to harass or threaten people.
On dating apps: ‘down to fuck’.
A facial expression characterised by sucking in the cheeks and pouting the lips to make them look fuller, not dissimilar to Zoolander’s ‘Blue Steel’ look. The duck face is common in selfies and frequently paired with the Myspace angle.
When your’e surrounded by people (online or IRL) who share the same views as you, and so are not exposed to other opinions or perspectives.
When you respond to emails very fast but with a super-concise response, like a boss.
Falsified news stories containing incorrect or made-up information, which are deliberately designed to mislead.
The phenomenon whereby personalised algorithms show us what they think we want to see.
A ‘fake’ or secondary Instagram account, usually private, where the user posts more personal, unfiltered pictures. (See also: ‘Rinsta’).
‘Fear of Missing Out’. That feeling of anxiety when you see everyone else on social media apparently having a better time than you.
When you end a relationship (usually romantic) by suddenly cutting off communication, with no warning or explanation.
An internet rule that posits that any argument that goes on long enough will result in someone making a comparison involving Hitler or Nazis. When this happens, the argument is over and that person has lost.
A social media post whose ostensible humility is a just a thin and ineffective veneer for showing off.
A common type of meme that consists of an image overlaid with text, usually to comic effect.
An email strategy coined by Merlin Mann by which you triage emails as soon as you read them so as to keep a clean inbox, aka the only way to live.
A trolling tactic in which the troll tries to derail a conversation or influence other people’s views by repeatedly asking loaded questions, thus forcing their debate partner onto the back foot under the guise of ‘just asking questions’. (Related: Sea lion.)
Long-term relationship.
Someone who regularly reads messages or social media posts but rarely contributes anything themselves.
When Men Explain Things to You. Mansplaining is when someone (usually a man) explains something to someone else (usually a woman) in a patronising manner, assuming that his conversation partner couldn’t possibly know as much about the topic at hand as he does – even if all evidence points to the contrary.
A piece of internet culture that spreads via adaptation and imitation.
A term to describe someone who is well-loved on social media one moment and falls out of favour the next, after negative details about their past or present behaviour come to light. Coined by Twitter account @PixelatedBoat.
A selfie taken from a flattering angle which involves holding the phone up and to the side, thus emphasising your eyes and hiding all your chins.
An emotionally manipulative behaviour whereby someone (usually a man) makes a backhanded compliment to someone else (usually a woman) in order to undermine their confidence.
A euphemism for sex.
A man who believes the only reason he is unsuccessful with women is because he’s ‘too nice’ and ‘nice guys finish last’. Endemic on dating apps.
Snubbing a person in real life to instead look at your phone.
A photo on social media that is designed to look like a candid shot but is actually clearly staged to look just perfect (a ‘planned candid’).
When you call out someone’s behaviour publicly (i.e. on social media), usually with the intention of damaging their reputation or career.
On Twitter: the ratio between the number of likes and retweets a post receives, and the number of replies it elicits. A tweet that receives many more replies is almost definitely bad.
A gif, often showing a character’s over-the-top facial expression, which is used to express an emotional response.
Re-posting someone else’s Instagram post.
A reply-allpocalypse occurs when someone hits ‘reply-all’ on an email mistakenly sent to the all-office mailing list, unleashing a flood of subsequent ‘reply-alls’ that bring productivity to a grinding halt. RIP your inbox.
Sexually explicit images or videos of someone that are shared without their permission.
A classic bait-and-switch meme where you trick someone into clicking a link that takes them unexpectedly to the music video of Rick Astley’s 80s hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’.
A ‘real’ or main Instagram account, where the user posts a curated view of their life for public consumption.
(Not the cute sea mammal.) A specific type of troll who repeatedly asks for evidence or explanations while maintaining an air of utmost civility.
Sending sexually explicit messages, including flirtatious texts and saucy images.
The usually-very-awkward transition from speaking to someone through public social media channels to sending them a private message. Not everyone who slides into your DMs is a creep, but many are.
When you put ~*~tildes and asterisks~*~ around something to make it look all ~*~sparkly~*~ like an emo teenager on MSN Messenger.
When you post something on Instagram that has a special meaning to one of your followers, without explicitly mentioning them or it.
When you tweet about someone but either don’t mention their name or tag their handle so they don’t get alerted to the conversation. It’s the Twitter version of bitching behind someone’s back.
A sexy photo (often a mirror selfie) posted on social media explicitly to garner attention and encourage suitors to publicly profess their desire.
When you swipe left on someone on Tinder, so they find your profile on Instagram instead and slide into your DMs.
An attempt to shut down or undermine an argument by criticising the way it is delivered rather than its actual content.
A person who enters an online conversation in bad faith, for example with the intention of disrupting or derailing a conversation, or causing distress to other participants.
A Twitter thread is when you ‘thread’ multiple tweets together by replying consecutively to each one. A tweetstorm is a Twitter thread that gets out of control, with many threaded tweets pushed out in rapid succession. Time for some game theory …
When two people in a relationship take a picture of the same thing and put it on Instagram.
The little signifier on messaging apps that shows you someone is in the midst of composing a message while you wait with baited breath to see what they have to say. Sometimes an ellipsis in a bubble, sometimes a message that says ‘(Name) is typing …’
In online dating, a woman prepared to have a no-strings-attached threesome with a heterosexual couple. More commonly found in myth than reality.
A social media post, usually on Facebook, in which the poster expresses a negative emotion but neglects to mention the cause of their distress, so that their friends are forced to ask. Usually done for attention.