|
|
A Few Social Networking Technical Terms Used in Reference to a Custom Online Community
Posted by:
Walter Roark on
March 18, 2009 at
9:26PM AFT
Perhaps you were too shy to ask or just didn’t give social media  definitions much thought. Either way, the evolution of social media terminology is a fascinating subject. And new, (often bewildering) technical phrases are coming into the spotlight at a prodigious rate. I mean, just a few years ago, no one had ever heard social networking. Now, Social Networking rules the net.
Aggregator
In computing, a feed aggregator, also known as a feed reader, news reader or simply aggregator, is client software or a Web application which aggregates syndicated web content (RSS feeds) in the form of news headlines, blogs, podcasts, and vlogs in a single location for easy viewing.
API
Application Programming Interface is programming code exposed to the outside world to give other developers outside your application or organization the ability to more easily interact with your software. Language-independent APIs are written in a way that means they can be called from several programming languages. This is a desired feature for a service-style API which is not bound to a particular process or system and is available as a remote procedure call. For example, online social communities utilize APIs to support features such as Remote Commenting and Single Sign-On.
Dynamic Content
Dynamic Content is at the core of the social media experience on the web. Clickable, easily-accessible content modules give members many engaging ways to express an opinion, share information, connect with other members, create a community group. post an event, upload photos and videos and much more.
OAuth
OAuth is an open
protocol that allows secure API Authorization in a simple and standard method
for desktop, mobile and web applications. For consumer developers, OAuth is a
method to publish and interact with protected data. For service provider
developers, OAuth gives users access to their data while protecting their
account credentials. In other words, OAuth allows a user to grant access to
their information on one site (the Service Provider), to another site (called
Consumer), without sharing all of his or her identity.
Profiling
Members of online communities can create individual user profiles, including vanity pages and URLs, to establish their presence within the community. Members can also personalize, edit and manage their profiles. Profiles are the core element of the online community , setting the stage for interaction and friending.
In a Profile, members can share as much (or as little) information as they wish. Along with a brief biography, a member can reveal his or her birthday, marital status, education, occupation, geography, hobbies, preferences in music/film, plus a virtually unlimited list of additional topics.
Profiling links make it easy for people to discover, connect and engage with other members.
SaaS
Software as a Service (SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass') is a model of software deployment where an application is hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet. By eliminating the need to install and run the application on the customer's own servers, SaaS alleviates the customer's burden of software maintenance, ongoing operation, and support.
As a term, SaaS is generally associated with business software and is typically thought of as a low-cost way for businesses to obtain the same benefits of commercially licensed, internally operated software without the associated complexity and high initial cost.
Social Networking
Social Networking is the assembly, or coming together of individuals in specific groups or communities. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in schools or in the workplace, it is most popular online. This is because the Internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other internet users to develop friendships and business relationships.
Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share a common interest such as hobbies, religion, or politics.
So, members make like-minded friends, and easily share ideas, information and visual content.
SSO
Single Sign-On is a method of access control that enables a user to log in once and gain access to multiple Internet sites without  being prompted to log in again. A community developer who offers SSO uses centralized authentication for authentication purposes, and combines this with techniques to ensure that users do not actively have to enter their credentials more than once.
SSO helps eliminate user “password fatigue,” saving visitors the time and bother of re-entering passwords for the same identity.
UGC
User Generated Content (UGC), refers to various kinds of media content, publicly available, that are produced by end-users. In a community infused with social media tools, members have the opportunity to create a compelling profile, contribute to blogs, comment on a blog or article, upload photos and videos, establish a Group, post an Event, and more. These positive activities encourage collaboration, skill-building and discovery.
Often UGC is partially or totally monitored by website administrators to avoid offensive content or language, copyright infringement issues, or simply to determine if the content posted is relevant to the site's general theme.
We welcome your comments if you have thoughts about social media terminology or trends.
|
|
