Several social media words have been added to the reverent Oxford English Dictionary, proving that social media is not only changing the way we communicate, but it's changing the English language. Just this month, news reports poured in about the word retweet being honored, as the newest word to be found in the dictionary. We were wondering - which social media words will be next?
#1: Inbound Marketing
Commonly defined online as a strategy in marketing, that focuses on getting found by clients, instead of seeking them out. This form of marketing differs from various other definitions of marketing found in the dictionary these days, but is crucial to the concept of social media. As social marketing progresses, the customer will find the businesses they like and become part of their community.
It will no longer be necessary to track down customers, because they will find you. Very nice concept Brian Halligan (HubSpot) - and dictionary-worthy.
#2: Content Curator
As more and more people online are sharing, the content curators are taking a greater role in social media than the content creators. A content curator is someone that finds niche bits of content, and shares it on a number of platforms with their social community.
Every time you repost a blog, an article, share a video or retweet a tweet - you are curating content for your community. Like a museum curator, you're finding the best of the best in your niche, and displaying it for a select group of people.
#3: Social Proof
As businesses become clued-up about their social presence, they need concepts to help them sell online. Social proof is one of these concepts. Any form of social evidence that your business has been interactive with your online communities, is considered social proof. The most common form of social proof, is the testimonial, especially on sites like Twitter.
Social proof can also be reviews, Facebook comments, blog and video comments, poll answers, clicks, check-ins, badges or your Klout score.
#4: Geolocation
Since the rise of social sites like Foursquare and Groupon, geolocation marketing has been a huge buzzword online. It involves the specific targeting of a demographic within a certain area, or location. Geolocation is used in many analytics tools, and for a variety of marketing reasons. Selling to people in your vicinity has never been so easy - which is why 'geolocation' needs to be in the dictionary.
#5: Freemium
Another buzz word in the social marketing sphere is freemium. A combination of the word 'free' and 'premium' is alludes to a high quality product that a marketer or business is giving away for free. These freemiums are used to drive traffic to websites or social sites, and eventually, to sell other products and services. In the social world online, a freemium is just about the most powerful marketing tool out there. Everyone likes free stuff.
Know a social media word that you think is dictionary-worthy? Leave your suggestion below, and be one of the first people to propose its induction into the modern English language.