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Instagram had an undeniable effect on our lifestyle, marketing, education, etc. Here I wanna talk about its effect on our language. In this article, you will learn all about Instagram user slang, abbreviations and lingo!
It is necessary to learn Instagram lingo even if you have a personal account. Because at the end of the day you don’t wanna lag, do you?
To better communicating on Instagram, you should get familiar with Instagram lingo, Instagram abbreviations, and Instagram user slang.
Instagram Lingo
Over time, Instagram users generated a form of speaking that here I refer to as Instagram lingo. But have you ever felt like you are behind the community?
Instagram lingo can be used alone, with hashtags, in comments, etc.
| AFAIK | As far as I know |
| AMA | Ask me anything |
| BRB | Be right back |
| BTAIM | Be that as it may |
| BTS | Behind the scenes. Instagrammers normally dedicate a highlight story to BTS |
| BTW | By the way |
| DAE | Does anyone else…? |
| DYK | Did you know…? |
| FBF | Flashback Friday. When you wanna share an old photo |
| FoodPorn | Photos and videos of delicious meals |
| FTFY | Fixed that for you |
| FTW | For the win |
| FYI | For your information |
| GTG or G2G | Got To Go |
| GG | Good game |
| GTR | Got to run |
| HBD | Happy birthday |
| HIFW | How I feel when… |
| HMB | Hit me back |
| HMU | Hit me up |
| HT or H/T | Hat tip. Used for acknowledging, appreciating, or thanking other users. |
| HTH | Here to help or happy to help |
| ICYMI | In case you missed it. |
| IDC | I don’t care |
| IDK | I don’t know |
| IG | |
| IKR | I know, right? |
| ILY | I love you |
| IMHO | In my humble opinion |
| IMO | In my opinion |
| IRL | In real life |
| JK | Just kidding. |
| LMAO | Laughing my a** off |
| LMK | Let me know |
| LOL | Laughing out loud |
| MFW | My face when… |
| NBD | No big deal |
| NM | Not much |
| NSFW | Not safe for work |
| NVM | Nevermind |
| OH | Used as a context for quotes |
| OMW | On my way |
| OOTD | Outfit of the day |
| OTP | One true pairing |
| PPL | People |
| Regram | the Instagram form of asking for reshare |
| ROFL | Rolling on the floor laughing |
| ROFLMAO | Rolling on the floor laughing my a** off |
| SFW | Safe for work |
| SMH | Shaking my head. Used to express shock or disappointment |
| TBH | To be honest |
| TBBH | To be brutally honest |
| TBT | Throwback Thursday. When you wanna share an old photo |
| TFW | That feeling when… , used to transfer a feeling |
| TGIF | Thank God it’s Friday |
| TIL | Today I learned… |
| TL;DR | Too long; didn’t read. |
| TMI | Too much information |
| WBU | What about you? |
| WBW | Way back Wednesday. Used when sharing an old photo |
| WFH | Work from home |
| WTAF | What The Actual F*ck |
| WTF | What The F*ck (I bet you knew and used it before :D) |
| YOLO | You only live once |
| B2B | Business to business. Refers to businesses that provide to the needs of other businesses |
| B2C | Business to consumer. Refers to businesses that provide products or services for customers directly |
| Follow4Follow | This phrase is put on bio and it means I follow you just if you unfollow me. No need to say that this method is so outdated and there are better ways to increase your followers |
Instagram Abbreviations
If you are trying to educate yourself regarding Instagram, you possibly come up with lots of Instagram abbreviations.
Here are the most important and used Instagram abbreviations;
| CR | Conversion Rate: It is the estimation of users who have done your desired action divided by the number who could have. For example in an Instagram ad campaign, your post is shown to 1000 users, 100 of them visited your profile, 10 of them followed you. Here the CR is 0.001. |
| CRO | Conversion Rate Optimization: The actions you do to better conversion rate. As an example improving Instagram profile can be considered CRO because it increases the chance of converting visitors into customers. |
| CTA | Call To Action: This Instagram abbreviation is used when you ask your followers to do a certain action. “Don’t forget to like”, “Leave a comment”, “Click the link in bio”, “tag a friend”, etc are considered CTA. CTAs play crucial roles when it comes to Instagram giveaways! |
| CTR | Click-Through Rate. This is one of the Instagram abbreviations that Instagram marketers lend from the digital marketing world. CTR comes in handy when Instagrammers shop wanna calculate the percentage of users who clicked the link. To calculate the CTR of your account, you should use a link in bio tool that tracks the actions of your followers on the landing page. |
| DM | Direct Message |
| ER |
Engagement Rate: The engagement rate is calculated differently for private and business accounts. Private account : (Likes+comments) divided by followers. Business account: (Likes+comments+saved) divided by impression. To increase the engagement rate, click here. |
| FOMO | Fear Of Missing Out: The best example is when you define a deadline for your Instagram giveaway so if your followers don’t take certain actions, they miss out on their chance of winning the giveaway. |
| PM | Private Message |
| PV | Profile Visit: The number of users who visit your profiles |
| ROI | Return On Investment: It is the amount of money you receive after investing it somewhere. Let’s imagine you pay 1000$ to an influencer to feature your Instagram shop in hers. So some of her followers join your account and put orders in value of 7000$. Your ROI is 6000$. |
| TOS | Terms Of Service |
| UGC | User-Generated Content: This is the content your followers create for you. Instagram challenges are categorized in UGC. |
In fact, many of these Instagram abbreviations are borrowed from the digital marketing world. After all, Instagram marketing is a subcategory of digital marketing, don’t you think?
Slang For Instagram User
And finally, slang for Instagram user!
The given Instagram user slang is the terms IG users generated and established among themselves. You as an Instagram user should learn these terms.
| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ | Used to say “whatever,” “doesn’t matter,” “who knows” or “why not” |
| Cray | Crazy |
| Crush it | Used to say someone is doing so well |
| Facepalm | When someone does or says something that’s unbelievably stupid |
| Fam | Family: used for a person or people you consider family |
| Fire | Used when something is so good |
| I can’t even | Indicates the speakers’ inability to communicate their emotion because they’re either overjoyed or frustrated. |
| It me | when you can relate yourself to a certain quote, meme, photo, etc |
| On fleek | On point |
| Savage | When someone or something is extremely harsh |
| Slay | when something is unexpectedly good |
| Thirsty | When someone is too eager or seems too desperate |
| Throwing shade | The act of bullying on Instagram |
| YAAS | saying yes enthusiastically |
Now you are familiar with Instagram user slang, lingo, and abbreviations. What is your next move to grow your Instagram?
