Social Media Terms for Business Owners
Facebook, Instagram and TikTok share most of their vocabulary, though each adds a few words of its own. This guide defines the terms you will see in your apps, your insights and in conversations with anyone managing your accounts.
On This Page
Accounts and Profiles
- Facebook Page A public presence for a business on Facebook, separate from the owner's personal profile.
- Personal profile The individual Facebook account a person logs in with. Pages are managed through personal profiles.
- Professional account An Instagram business or creator account, which unlocks insights, contact buttons and ads.
- Business account On TikTok, an account type for brands with business tools and the Commercial Music Library.
- Bio The short description at the top of a profile.
- Handle The @username people use to find and tag an account.
- Verified badge A check mark confirming an account's identity, available on Meta through Meta Verified.
- Meta Business Suite Meta's free tool for managing a Facebook Page and Instagram account together, including posts, messages and insights.
Content Formats
- Post A photo, video, text or link published to a profile or Page.
- Reel A short vertical video on Facebook or Instagram, shown in a dedicated full-screen feed.
- Story A photo or short video that disappears after 24 hours.
- Highlight A collection of past Stories saved permanently on an Instagram profile.
- Carousel A post with several swipeable photos or videos.
- Live A real-time video broadcast.
- Collab An Instagram post published jointly by two accounts and shown to both audiences.
- Pinned post A post fixed at the top of a profile.
Performance Terms
- Reach The number of distinct accounts that saw a post.
- Views The number of times content was seen, including repeat views.
- Engagement Any interaction, such as likes, comments, shares and saves.
- Engagement rate Engagements divided by reach or by followers, expressed as a percentage. Check which base a report uses before comparing.
- Shares and sends Shares to Stories, feeds or private messages. Instagram's head has named sends per reach as a key signal for reaching new people.
- Saves Bookmarks of a post for later.
- Watch time How long people keep watching a video, in total and on average.
- Profile visits Taps through to the profile from a post.
- Link taps Taps on the website link in a bio or on a profile.
Audience and Distribution
- Followers Accounts that have chosen to see your content.
- Non-followers People reached through recommendations, which platforms such as Instagram call unconnected reach.
- For You feed TikTok's main recommendation feed, also used loosely for recommendation feeds on other apps.
- Algorithm The ranking system that decides which content each person sees.
- Hashtag A tagged keyword that groups content on a topic.
- Boost Paying to show an existing post to more people.
Community and Messaging
- DM (direct message) A private message sent to an account.
- Inbox The shared place where messages, comments and reviews are answered, such as the inbox in Meta Business Suite.
- Moderation Hiding, deleting or filtering comments and blocking accounts.
- Recommendations Facebook's public reviews, where people say whether they recommend a business.
In Practice
Consider a yoga studio comparing two months of Instagram results. Followers grew by only 40, yet reach doubled and profile visits rose by half. Knowing the terms makes it clear the studio's Reels were reaching many non-followers, and the next step is giving those visitors a clear reason to book from the profile.
Watch Out
Platforms rename features and metrics often. Confirm details in the sources below before relying on them.
Key Facts
- Pew Research Center's 2025 survey found 71% of U.S. adults use Facebook, 50% use Instagram and 37% use TikTok.
- In January 2025 Instagram head Adam Mosseri named watch time, likes per reach and sends per reach as the top ranking signals.
Sources
- Americans' Social Media Use 2025, Pew Research Center www.pewresearch.org
- Instagram shares algorithm insights for 2025, Social Media Today www.socialmediatoday.com
- Meta Business Help Center www.facebook.com
- TikTok Support support.tiktok.com
- No Key Terms block on this page. Review line, Related Guides and CTA per Sitewide Edits. CTA button: Social Media Service.
Have Our Team Handle This
Our team runs this every day. Book a call and we will plan it for your business.