New Media Glossary

Click on the term below to see the definition:

• Blog
• New Media
• News Reader
• Online Chat
• Podcast
• RSS Feed
• Social Bookmarking
• Social Media
• Social Network Services
  (Social Networking Sites)

• Texting (or Text Messaging)
• Video Sharing Service
• Virtual World
• Web 2.0
• Web Button
• Webcast
• Web Conferencing
• Webinar
• Wiki

* Note: All information was excerpted and/or adapted from Wikipedia during June & July 2008.

Blog

A website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” is also a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Example: AIDS.gov Blog http://blog.AIDS.gov

New Media

“The idea of ‘new media’ captures both the development of unique forms of digital media, and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and adapt to the new media technologies.”

Also see “Social media” and “Web 2.0”.

Example: Many of the examples in this glossary!

News Reader

Also known as a feed aggregator or feed reader is client software or a Web application which aggregates syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs, and podcasts in a single location (a “personal newspaper”) for easy viewing.

Example: Google News Reader http://www.google.com/reader/view/

Online Chat

Can refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, but is primarily meant to refer to direct one-on-one chat or text-based group chat, using tools such as instant messaging applications. The expression online chat comes from the word chat which means “informal conversation”.

Example: AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) http://dashboard.aim.com/aim Back to Top

Podcast

A series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

Example: San Francisco AIDS Foundation Podcast http://sfaf.typepad.com/

RSS Feed

A family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts in a standardized format. An RSS document (called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”) contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner.

Example: AIDS.gov’s Podcast and News RSS Feeds http://www.aids.gov/podcast/rss_lp.html

Social Bookmarking

A method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet. In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains.

Example: Del.ico.us http://del.icio.us/

Social Media

An umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.

Also see “New media” and “Web 2.0”.

Example: Many of the examples in this glossary!Back to Top

Social Network Services (Social Networking Sites)

Uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most services are primarily web-based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on.

Examples: MySpace http://www.myspace.com and Facebook http://www.facebook.com

Texting (or Text Messaging)

The common term for the sending of “short” (160 characters or fewer, including spaces) text messages from mobile phones using the Short Message Service (SMS). It is available on most digital mobile phones and some personal digital assistants with on-board wireless telecommunications. The individual messages which are sent are called text messages, or in the more colloquial text speak texts.

Example: SexInfo SF http://www.sextextsf.org/

Video Sharing Service

Also called a video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video.

Example: YouTube http://youtube.com

Virtual World

A computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical representations, although other forms are possible (auditory and touch sensations for example). Some, but not all, virtual worlds allow for multiple users.

Example: Second Life http://secondlife.com/ Back to Top

Web 2.0

A term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social networking sites, wikis, and blogs.

Also see “New media” and “Web 2.0”.

Example: Many of the examples in this glossary!

Web Button

Also known as button graphics, Web badges, or stickers are pictures in some World Wide Web pages which are typically used to advertise programs.

Example: AIDS.gov’s Web Badges http://www.aids.gov/knowit.html

Webcast

A media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology. As a broadcast may either be live or recorded, similarly, a webcast may either be distributed live or recorded. Essentially, webcasting is “broadcasting” over the Internet.

Example: Kaiser Family Foundation’s Healthcast http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm

Web Conferencing

Is used to conduct live meetings or presentations over the Internet. In a web conference, each participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to other participants via the internet. This can be either a downloaded application on each of the attendees computers or a web-based application where the attendees will simply enter a URL (website address) to enter the conference.

Example: WebEx http://www.webex.com/ (software)Back to Top

Webinar

A specific type of web conference. It is typically one-way, from the speaker to the audience. A webinar can be very collaborative and include polling and question & answer sessions. In some cases, the presenter may speak over a standard telephone line, pointing out information being presented on screen and the audience can respond over their own telephones.

Example: Go To Webinar http://www.gotowebinar.com (software)

Wiki

A collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.

Examples: Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org/ and PBWiki http://www.pbwiki.com

*Note: All information was excerpted and/or adapted from Wikipedia during June & July 2008.

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Comments

[Jim Brennan]

Great info, short, concise and to the point. I disagree though that web buttons are typically used just to advertise programs - they are typcally used for navigation.