Archive

may refer to topics from an online discussion that has been closed but saved for later reference. On blogs, archives are collections of earlier items usually organized by week or month. You may still be able to comment on archived items.

Atom

is another popular feed format developed as an alternative to RSS.

Blogs

are websites with dated items of content in reverse chronological order, self-published by bloggers. Items – sometimes called posts – may have keyword tags associated with them, are usually available as feeds, and often allow commenting. Popular blog platforms wordpress.org (my fave), typepad.com, and blogger.com.

Blog Carnival

blog article that contains links to other articles covering a specific topic. Most blog carnivals are hosted by a rotating list of frequent contributors to the carnival, and serve to both generate new posts by contributors and highlight new bloggers posting matter in that subject area. Popular carnival site blogcarnival.com

Blogosphere

is the term used to describe the totality of blogs on the Internet, and the conversations taking place within that sphere.

Blogroll is a list of sites displayed in the sidebar of blog, showing who the blogger reads regularly.

Bookmarking

is saving the address of a website or item of content, either in your browser, or on a social bookmarking site like del.icio.us. If you add tags, others can easily use your research too, and the social bookmarking site becomes an enormous public library. If groups agree the tags they’ll use, it makes collaborative research much easier.

Browser

is the tool used to view websites, and access all the content available there onscreen or by downloading. Browsers may also have features including the ability to read feeds, write blog items, view and upload photos to photosharing sites. Browsers have become the central tool for using social media as more and more tools previously used on our desktops are becoming free online. I personally use Firefox.

Categories

are pre-specified ways to organize content – for example, a set of keywords that you can use but not add to when posting on a site.

Comments

blogs may allow readers to add comments under items, and may also provide a feed for comments as well as for main items. That mean you can keep up with conversations without having to revisit the site to check whether anything has been added.

Content

is used here to describe text, pictures, video and any other meaningful material that is on the Internet.

Feeds

are the means by which you can read, view or listen to items from blogs and other RSS-enabled sites without visiting the site, by subscribing and using an aggregator or newsreader. Feeds contain the content of an item and any associated tags without the design or structure of a web page. Subscribe to my feed!

Links

are the highlighted text or images that, when clicked, jump you from one web page or item of content to another. Bloggers use links a lot when writing, to reference their own or other content. Linking is another aspect of sharing, by which you offer content that may be linked, and acknowledge the value of other’s people’s contributions by linking to them. It is part of being open and generous.

Networks

are structures defined by nodes and the connections between them. In social networks the nodes are people, and the connections are the relationships that they have. Networking is the process by which you develop and strengthen those relationships.

Newsreader

a website or desktop tool that act as an aggregator, gathering content from blogs and similar sites using RSS feeds so you can read the content in one place, instead of having to visit different sites.

Permalink

The address (URL) of an item of content, for example a blog post, rather than the address of a web page with lots of different items. You will often find it at the end of a blog post.

Photoblog

A blog mostly containing photos, posted constantly and chronologically.

Pingback

The alert in the TrackBack system that notifies the original poster of a blog post when someone else writes an entry concerning the original post.

Podcast

Audio or video content that can be downloaded automatically through a subscription to a website so you can view or listen offline.

Post

An item on a blog or forum.

RSS

is short for Really Simple Syndication. This allows you to subscribe to content on blogs and other social media and have it delivered to you through a feed.

Social media

is a terms for the tools and platforms people use to publish, converse and share content online. The tools include blogs, wikis, podcasts, and sites to share photos and bookmarks.

Social networking sites are online places where users can create a profile for themselves, and then socialise with others using a range of social media tools including blogs, video, images, tagging, lists of friends, forums and messaging. Popular networks twitter.com, myspace.com and facebook.com

Subscribing

is the process of adding an RSS feed to your aggregator or newsreader . It’s the online equivalent of signing up for a magazine, but usually free.

Tags

are keywords attached to a blog post, bookmark, photo or other item of content so you and others can find them easily through searches and aggregation.

Trackback

some blogs provide a facility for other bloggers to leave a calling card automatically, instead of commenting. Blogger A may write on blog A about an item on blogger B’s site, and through the trackback facility leave a link on B’s site back to A. The collection of comments and trackbacks on a site facilitates conversations.

Vlog

A video blog; a vlogger is a video blogger (e.g. someone who records himself interviewing people of a certain field).

Widgets

are a stand-alone applications you can embed in other applications, like a website or a desktop, or view on its own on a PDA. These may help you to do things like subscribe to a feed, do a specialist search, or even make a donation.

Hope that helps! Let me know if I missed anything:)