30 Must-Know Twitter Abbreviations and Acronyms

• RT – Retweet     –     This means the tweet you are reading was not original to that Twitter user; they have retweeted that message to their followers…and you
• MT – Modified Tweet     –     This means that someone has retweeted someone else’s tweet, but has modified it from the original tweet
• DM – Direct Message     –     A direct message is a private tweet that only the sender and receiver can see; sort of like  a 140 character email
• #FF – Follow Friday (or Feature Friday)     –     On Fridays, people will put “#FF” and then list a bunch of people on Twitter. By doing this, they are essentially endorsing these accounts and are recommending to their followers to go ahead and give them a follow as well

Common Abbreviations and Acronyms on Twitter

• <3 – Love     –     This “less than three” acronym is used to be a crudely-shaped heart and is used to signify the word “love”
• 2 – To/Too/Two     –     Short way to say “to”, “too”, or “two” that conserves characters
• 4 – For     –     Short way to say “for” that conserves characters
• B4 – Before     –     Short way to say “before” that conserves characters
• BC, B/C – Because     –     Short way to say “because” that conserves characters
• BTW – By The Way     –     Short way to say “by the way” that conserves characters
• CHK – Check     –     Short way to say “check” that conserves characters
• EM, EML – Email     –     Short way to say “email” that conserves characters
• FB – Facebook     –     Short way to say “Facebook” that conserves characters
• GR8 – Great     –     Short way to say “great” that conserves characters
• HT – Hat Tip     –     This acronym is used when someone wants to virtually give credit to, or tip their hat at someone
• IDC – I Don’t Care     –     Short way to say “I don’t care” that conserves characters
• IDK – I Don’t Know     –     Short way to say “I don’t know” that conserves characters
• IMO – In My Opinion     –     Short way to say “in my opinion” that conserves characters
• JK – Just Kidding     –     Short way to say “just kidding” that conserves characters
• LI – LinkedIn     –     Short way to say “LinkedIn” that conserves characters
• LOL – Laugh Out Loud     –     People put this acronym when they want to show that they laughed in response
• NSFW – Not Safe For Work     –     This acronym means that the link contains adult material and is like it says, not safe to view at work
• PPL – People     –     Short way to say “People” that conserves characters
• RE – Reply     –     Short way to show that someone is replying to another’s tweet
• S/O – Shout Out     –     This acronym is used when someone wants to give praise or a shout-out to another person on Twitter
• TMB – Tweet Me Back     –     Put in tweets when someone wants others to respond to their tweet
• TY – Thank You     –     Short way to say “thank you” that conserves characters
• U – You     –     Short way to say “you” that conserves characters
• YT – YouTube      –     Short way to say “YouTube” that conserves characters
• YW – You’re Welcome     –     Short way to say “you’re welcome” that conserves characters

If I missed any that you commonly use, let me know in the comments.

-Lance Brown