NetLingo New and Updated Terms

Internet of Things

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The "Internet of Things" is a term that describes real life objects (things) and their virtual representations on the Internet.

It refers to the use of monitoring technology to track objects, appliances, animals, and even people. Using tags, sensors, and chips paired with wireless technology, businesses and governments are gathering data about the location, status, and other features of objects, ranging from tools needed at a construction site to a patientâ��s whereabouts in a hospital to cars backed up on a highway. This is the Internet of Things, where wireless networks of objects are being created using RFID, Bluetooth, GPS, and other technologies, working in tandem with cloud computing environments, Web portals, and back end systems that seek out patterns of activity among the connected objects.

The concept of the Internet of Things, coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999, became popular through the MIT Auto-ID Laboratory. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is seen as a prerequisite for the Internet of Things. The theory is that if all objects of daily life were equipped with radio tags, they could be identified and inventoried by computers. However, unique identification of things may be achieved through other means such barcodes or 2D-codes as well.

Thanks to ever cheaper electronics, improvements in wireless technologies, and the availability of DIY electronics (like the Arduino, a popular open source microcontroller which allows you to create interactive electronic objects) the Internet of Things has gone mainstream. Advocates say mapping data from ubiquitous sensors to our social graphs will provide valuable information about ourselves and our surroundings. People will find ways to use these streams of information to their advantage, in ways that we can't necessarily anticipate but that will also surely test our boundaries for privacy. Don't be surprised when your fridge joins Facebook!

It is anticipated that big data from scientific instruments, embedded sensors, and the vast assortment of Internet-connected objects will eventually eclipse information produced by humans.

Historical perspective: After the emergency at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in early 2011, government agencies and individuals set up Geiger counters to measure radiation. Like many sensors today, these Geiger counters post their measurements to the Web, which lets people pool the data and crowdsource the monitoring of radiation levels. Also in 2011, Carnegie Mellon University researchers developed sensors to monitor buildings, roads, and bridges, and a high-tech pedometer made by Fitbit monitors your movements and lets you share your exercise habits with your friends. In 2010, toy maker Mattel unveiled an electronic tag that sends a tweet whenever a dog moves or barks.

CBM

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Online jargon, also known as text message shorthand, used in texting, online chat, instant messaging, email, blogs, and newsgroup postings, these types of abbreviations are also referred to as chat acronyms.

For the largest list of Internet acronyms and text message jargon, click on "more info" below!

CUATSC

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

For the largest list of Internet acronyms and text message jargon, click on "more info" below!

WWNO

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

For the largest list of Internet acronyms and text message jargon, click on "more info" below!

GGPBL

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

For the largest list of Internet acronyms and text message jargon, click on "more info" below!

social commerce

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Social commerce is a subset of e-commerce that uses social media to assist in the online buying and selling of products and services. In other words, it is a mashup of e-commerce and social networking, integrating best practices in catalog, merchandising, and shopping cart processes with consumer-to-consumer (C2C) engagement, content sharing, and social activity.

Examples of social commerce include customer ratings and reviews, user recommendations and referrals, social shopping tools, social media optimization, social applications, and social advertising. Technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) have also been used with social commerce, allowing shoppers to visualize apparel items on themselves and solicit feedback through social networking.

According to Fred Cavazza in Forbes, social commerce existed through Amazon and Ebay, and the foundations of social commerce were established years ago in the book Cluetrain Manifesto: "Markets are conversations." He identifies six practices associated with social commerce:
1. Buyer community (GDGT)
2. Group buying (Groupon, Living Social)
3. Purchase sharing (JustBoughtIt)
4. Curation (Polyvore, Pinterest)
5. Social advice (Fashism)
6. Co-shopping (like the Shop Together app then used by Charlotte Russe)

The term social commerce was introduced by Yahoo! in November 2005 to describe a set of collaborative online shopping tools such as shared pick lists, user ratings and other user-generated content sharing. Online marketers like the idea of getting advice from trusted individuals (word-of-mouse) because research shows it increases the users' trust in one retailer over another. It's considered the Holy Grail of marketing: Making your customers your marketers.

Social media experts say the very notion of shopping on a retailer's website will become dated. Expecting people to come to your website is expecting them to make an extra effort. If you want to participate in social commerce, you need a commerce presence on a social networking site such as Facebook.

sockpuppet

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

An online identity used for the purposes of deception, like lonelygirl15.

According to the definition submitted by a Wikipedia editor, "the termâ��a reference to the manipulation of a simple hand puppet made from a sockâ��originally referred to a false identity assumed by a member of an Internet community who spoke to, or about, himself while pretending to be another person.

The term morphed to include other misleading uses of online identities, such as those created to praise, defend or support a third party or organization, or to circumvent a suspension or ban from a website. A significant difference between the use of a pseudonym and the creation of a sockpuppet is that the sockpuppet poses as an independent third-party unaffiliated with the puppeteer. Many online communities have a policy of blocking sockpuppets.

social network filtering

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Social networking users who have massive digital collections of friends create subsets based on relationships, interests, activities and locations. This effort to categorize one's social networks is referred to as social network filtering.

Historical perspective: In 2011, social network filtering received a major boost with the introduction of Facebookâ��s â��Sendâ�� button. A plugin for third-party websites lets users share a page as a post to a Facebook group, send a message to specific Facebook friends, or send as an email. Now, instead of â��Likingâ�� a page and having it show up on the wall for their entire social network to see, consumers can compartmentalize information and the people with whom they share. The Facebook â��Sendâ�� button can help drive engagement and purchase by making it easier for people to send recommendations, questions and more to subsets of friends. These smaller social networks can become group planning, sharing, shopping and collaboration circles. Brands can help create and reward these groups, encourage discussion and gather important, real-time feedback.

mopper

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

People who use mobile devices to browse online stores, comparison shop, and get recommendations from friends are referred to as "moppers."

memorial state

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

A status on Facebook that allows the user accounts of people who have died to be closed, but a memorial page remains accessible to friends online. Facebook previously closed these accounts, but responded to requests of people who wanted their friendsâ�� accounts to remain live so they could stay connected.