Internet Culture

43 terms in this category.

Algorithm (The Algo)

Informal shorthand for a platform's content-recommendation system

Creating a fake grassroots appearance for a campaign that's actually centrally organized or funded

An automated social media account, often used to spread content, spam, or manipulate engagement at scale

Coordinating a group to mass-comment, downvote, or harass a specific post or account

Call-Out Culture

The practice of publicly identifying and criticizing someone's problematic behavior online

The broad practice of publicly withdrawing support from public figures or brands over objectionable actions or statements

Sensationalized headlines or thumbnails designed to lure clicks, often exaggerating the actual content

Community Notes

A crowdsourced fact-checking feature that adds context to potentially misleading posts on a platform

Content Creator

A general term for someone who produces media (videos, posts, etc.) for an online audience

A block of text repeatedly copied and pasted across the internet, often as a joke or ritual

Using digital platforms to repeatedly harass, threaten, or humiliate someone

An ironically or intensely appreciated meme, often deliberately absurd or over-the-top

Removing someone's access to a platform, often by banning their account

Multiple people simultaneously criticizing or attacking one person online

Compulsively scrolling through negative or distressing news content

Publicly revealing someone's private personal information online without consent, often maliciously

An online environment where a person mainly encounters opinions that reinforce their own existing views

Extremely Online

Similar to "terminally online," describing someone deeply immersed in internet culture and discourse

Faceless Content

Videos or posts made without showing the creator's face, often using stock footage, voiceover, or text

The community of enthusiastic fans surrounding a particular show, book, game, or celebrity

Fan-written fiction based on existing characters or universes, shared within fan communities

The personalized information environment created by algorithms that show users only content matching their preferences

A "fake Instagram" account used for more private, unfiltered posting, separate from a main public profile

When content spreads extremely rapidly and widely across the internet

Hashtag Activism

Using hashtags to raise awareness or mobilize support for a social or political cause

Hate-Watching / Hate-Following

Continuing to watch a show or follow an account specifically because you dislike or are annoyed by it

A fan's personal belief or interpretation about a fictional universe that isn't confirmed by the official source material

Lurker / Lurking

Someone who reads or watches online content regularly without posting or engaging

Main Character Syndrome

Behaving as though you're the protagonist of your own story, sometimes used critically for self-centered behavior

Someone with mainstream tastes and habits, used somewhat dismissively by more online-native communities

Content or media deliberately designed to evoke nostalgic feelings, often to drive engagement or sales

Parasocial Relationship

A one-sided sense of intimacy or connection a person feels toward a media figure or influencer who doesn't know them

Content deliberately designed to provoke anger in order to drive engagement

A man who habitually and often unnecessarily replies to women's social media posts, frequently with unsolicited opinions

When a platform quietly limits a user's content visibility without notifying them

Supporting or imagining a romantic relationship between two fictional characters or public figures

Minimal-effort forms of activism, such as sharing a post, seen as providing a false sense of meaningful action

A fake online account used to deceive others, often to inflate support or disguise identity

The intense, highly organized fandom behavior associated with devoted online fanbases, especially in music

Posting a tweet indirectly about someone without naming them, often critically

Terminally Online

Describes someone so immersed in internet culture that their humor and references only make sense to other heavy internet users

Posting a deliberately vague, emotionally loaded status update to invite concern or attention

Slang (sometimes affectionate, sometimes mocking) for someone with an intense enthusiasm for Japanese anime and culture