Can’t FB ATM, BB -- the social media acronyms that have us scratching our heads
The tech industry has always been fond of acronyms for various technologies, and the rise of social media has brought many more into everyday use. But how many of these have you shrugging your shoulders and saying IDK* what that means?
Website design agency ProfileTree has analyzed the monthly search volume for each acronym to see which are the most confusing and misunderstood.
The most commonly searched acronym is FB, standing for ‘Follow Back’, usually used when someone asks for a FB or follow back on social media. In second place is TIME, ‘Tears In My Eyes’, which is an emotional indicator, probably the opposite of LOL, ‘Laughing Out Loud’ which is a surprising seventh in the top 10 list of most searched terms.
In third is ATM, ‘At The Moment’ -- not to be confused with Automated Teller Machine. Fourth is BB, meaning Baby, fifth is DL the acronym for ‘Down-Low’, used when someone wants something to be kept on the ‘DL’ or kept quiet.
Sixth is MSG, ‘Message’ followed by LOL, and eighth is AMA, which stands for ‘Ask Me Anything’ and is apparently popular among influencer types. Ninth is GG or ‘Good Game’ one for gamers, obviously.
In 10th place is BBL. You might think this is ‘Be Back Later’ as commonly used in text chats, however, these days on the socials it’s more likely referring to ‘Brazilian Butt Lift’ so there’s some interesting scope for confusion.
Ciaran Connolly, founder of ProfileTree, says:
These findings give us an interesting insight into the weird and wonderful world of social media and its most loved abbreviations.
Acronyms like ‘LOL’ and ‘ATM’ have been around since the start of messaging abbreviations, with LOL being recognised as a word and put into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011. This shows that internet culture and silly words made up by internet communities shape our real world. In fact, the terms ‘rizz’ and ‘brain rot’, both originating from social media, were Oxford University Press’ Words of the Year in 2023 and 2024.
Despite some being so well-known that they become part of our vocabulary, some people are still confused by their meanings, hence their positions in the ranking. Terms like ‘FB’, ‘TIME’ and ‘AMA’ receive many searches for their definitions, most likely because they are more niche and not as well known. ‘FB’ and ‘AMA’ are requesting something from followers, viewers or supporters online. ‘TIME’ is not a commonly seen term, as users are more likely to use an emoji to express a specific emotion or face, instead of an acronym.
Regardless, there seems to be an infinite number of social media words and acronyms that are ever-changing. What is hilarious on Monday morning could be cringe by Friday afternoon, and that’s certainly confusing.
Are there social media acronyms you use regularly? Which ones confuse you? Let us know in the comments -- bonus points for appropriate acronym use!
* I Don’t Know -- in case you didn’t know.
Image credit: Kiosea39/Dreamstime.com