Glossary

This page is intended to clarify generic terms that are proliferating because of new media. Each term is defined briefly and is linked to articles that relate to it.

Aggregator
A feed aggregator, also known as a feed reader or news reader, is client software or a Web application which brings together syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs, podcasts, and vlogs in a single location for easy viewing.

API
API stands for Application Programming Interface which is a programming format that allows websites to interact with other websites.

Avatar
A picture or icon that represents someone on social media sites, online computer games and forums.

Blog, Blogger, to Blog
Online web page that allows people to create their own pages with posts (made of text, images, video etc) and be able to critically express themselves and be commented by other people.

Bookmark
Record the address of (a Web site, file, etc.) for quick access by a user

Creative Commons
A nonprofit organization to encourage and facilitate the sharing of digital information.

Convergence of media
Changing of old media such as newspaper,magazines and radio into new media with the help of technology.

Domain Name
a name that is used to identify one or more IP addresses, used to access website

E-Learning
Type of education where individuals work on independently from any Internet connected location and communicate with faculty and other students via e-mail, electronic forums, videoconferencing and other forms of computer-based communication.

Facebooking
Messing around on the internationally popular social networking site Facebook.

File Sharing
File sharing is accessing or sharing of files by one or more users.

Feed
A web feed (or news feed) is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content.

Followers
People that connect with you through subscribing to receive updates from your posts on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram.

Friendster
Friendster is a social gaming site that is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was previously known as a social networking service website.

G
Globalization The process of extending social relations across world space.

H
Hashtag a word or an unspaced phrase prefixed with the symbol #

Microblogging
A form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, E-mail, digital audio or the web.

Navigation
Menu of links or buttons allowing users to move from one web page to another.

Open Source
Relating to, or being computer software for which the source code is freely available for use and development.

P2P
This acronym stands for peer-to-peer: a distributed network architecture (centralized or not) that enables participants to share data openly.


 * P2P Networks: Destruction of Industries or Expansion of Market Share

Podcast
A type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of audio, video, PDF, or ePub files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device.

RSS
RSS stands for Rich Site Summary, which is a format used to syndicate content from sites that support this function. Content from blogs, online news sources, and essentially any site that uses RSS can be seen in one feed off a device. This is helpful if you tend to visit several websites a day in order to read its published information, with RSS you will receive a constant update on your device whenever information is published from the sites that you have added to your RSS feed.

Social Networking
The process of communicating and exchanging information in a virtual world.

Tweet
A post made on the Twitter online message service.

Viral
When a video, picture, or any kind of media content has been extensively viewed and discussed by the online community through social media.

Virtual World
A computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical representations.

Webinar
A seminar that takes place on the web where the lecture or presentation can be seen over the Internet.

Wiki
A Web site developed collaboratively by a community of users, allowing any user to add and edit content.

Widget
A third party item that can be embedded in a web page and executed within any separate Web page without requiring additional compilation. A widget can be compared to a plug-in in desktop operations.

Yelp
A customer review site that allows people to comment and post pictures of local businesses such as restaurants, salons, doctor's offices and much more.