Social Media Terms and Definitions to Know

In general, an algorithm is a defined set of rules used to solve a problem. In social media terminology, however, people often use ‘algorithm’ as a shorthand for ‘feed algorithm’, which is the set of rules a social network uses to automatically decide which posts come first in your feed. For example, if Facebook decides that it wants to prioritize posts with lots of comments, it adjusts the rules of its feed algorithm to push those posts up.

Also, see: How the LinkedIn Algorithm Works in 2021.

Analytics

Analytics is the way you interpret and find patterns in data. In a social media context, analytics is the process of following metrics on your social media performance and using that data to improve your strategy. For instance, watching your engagement rate over time to see if your posts are becoming more or less compelling to your followers is one way of using social analytics.

For more in-depth information on social analytics, see Instagram Analytics Explained.

Application Programming Interface (API)

An API is a set of building blocks that programmers can use to develop computer programs. As far as social media is concerned, all the major social networks have their own APIs that let programmers create their own software that works with the networks. Third-party social intelligence solutions such as ours rely on social media APIs to integrate with platforms like Facebook.

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