Have you ever been offended by something a brand or business has to say on social media? Often times, small words can make a big difference in how brands are perceived.

And mistakes happen on social media. No one – not even a social marketer! – it’s not perfect.

To avoid any missteps, here is a collection of embarrassing words, divided into four categories to ban them from your social media vocabulary.

4 types of languages ​​to ban from your social media posts

1. “Hip” slang

You know that feeling you got when your dad asked you about the “shock song” you were listening to? That’s the same feeling viewers get from brands that try hard to be cool. Using trendy lingo is a risky move for most professional organizations, unless it fits your brand’s tone.

Brands don’t decide what’s cool, audiences do. When businesses try too hard to look cool, they risk alienating their audience.

Here are some examples of words and phrases you might want to swipe left over if you hope to avoid embarrassing your audience:
  • AMNESTY: This abbreviation is used to help reach a point. For example, “I’m hungry AF.” ‘A’ stands for ‘as’ and ‘F’ stands for a four letter curse word. We’ll let you fill in the blanks.
  • I can’t even: A term that indicates that you are too emotional to form words. It’s a piece of teenage slang that was quickly adopted by brands and wasn’t cool quickly. It’s outdated now, which is even less cool.
  • burning/return: These basically mean the same thing: getting drunk and getting excited about an event or situation. Unless they fit the tone of your brand, it’s probably a good idea to leave it out of your social media lexicon.
  • keep calm: A term used to describe someone’s level of composure. For example, “I love hanging out with them, they’re so cool.” Brands can’t decide what’s cool, remember? So avoid using this word unless you’re talking about the weather.
  • Gucci: You may recognize this word as a famous luxury retail brand. That’s not what teens mean when they use it, according to Refinery29. Instead, “Gucci” means something or someone is cool or good. For example, “Gucci Sounds Good.” If you’re looking for another word to use instead, just say “good”.
  • Hundo P: This abbreviated expression means 100%, as it will definitely be something. It also indicates enthusiastic approval and/or agreement. For example, “Hundo P will be sunny” or “Hundo P was the worst dinner.” Are brands considering trying this? Hundo P is not a good idea.
  • Bags: No, that’s not talking about a beautiful set of practical bags. It means “totally” as in complete agreement with someone or something. For example, “I’m going to that party.” While this isn’t the most popular term, it’s always scary to use in your social posts. Teens can use it and look cool and ironic. You can not.
  • #Targets: In most business contexts, this word is used to describe your professional intentions and/or future success. #goals for everyone else on social media is something you usually say when you show someone your support by suggesting that you admire them and want to emulate them. For example, in response to an Instagram post containing a delicious meal, someone might comment “#foodgoals.” If this word is used in the right context, you can avoid eye rolls. However, it should be used with caution.

2. Meaningless jargon

Your job as a marketer is to make sure your brand’s message is clear. Unfortunately, the use of marketing jargon, buzzwords or vague terms on social media is all too common by businesses. This practice alienates audience members who don’t immediately understand what the content means.

“Jargon masks literal meaning,” Jennifer Chatman, a professor of management at the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley, tells Forbes. “People use this as a substitute for thinking clearly about their goals and the direction they want to give others.”

Some common examples of marketing jargon to avoid in your social media content or when discussing your strategy include:

  • viral: This refers to the phenomenon that online content receives an exceptional amount of engagement on social media networks. And social marketers sometimes use the term to describe their content goals. It’s better (and easier) to set measurable goals, rather than saying your goal is to get your post to go “viral.” For help with this, check out our guide to setting smart social media goals.
  • Synergy: This usually refers to the interaction between two things that produces a better result. But in the business world, “synergy” is one of those terms that has been circulating so often and losing its meaning.
  • optimize: This means making something as efficient as possible. But the word ‘optimise’ has now become a concept used only for creating good content. You’ll often hear “post optimised,” which usually means that the post was edited or reposted during a higher traffic hour of the day. This is another situation where it’s better to just say what you mean rather than say a word that will make you feel smarter.
  • Band width: As a technical term, it refers to the amount of data that can be transmitted in a given period of time. When used as job jargon, it refers to a person’s capacity to take on more work. For example, “Do you have the bandwidth to run another social media channel?” To keep things simple, consider changing “bandwidth” instead of “time”.
  • holistic: A term that means to examine something as a whole based on all its individual components. This descriptor can be used in many different contexts, such as holistic medicine. In business, it refers to a strategy that takes an all-encompassing approach rather than focusing on one piece. Unfortunately, it’s often overused when it’s not necessary, which dilutes its meaning. Does “holistic social media strategy” really mean something different or adding more value than “social media strategy”? As a general rule, remove adjectives.
  • Millennial: Used by marketers to describe the age demographic of people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. In certain situations, such as reports or surveys that examine broad behavioral trends, labeling age demographic categories can be very helpful. However, terms like Millennial and Gen Z are often overused in broad statements that stereotype behavior without the support of any real data. When marketers use the word “Millennial” as a generic descriptor, they miss the mark when it comes to specifically targeting their social media content.

3. Clickbait

Clickbait refers to sensational headlines that don’t live up to their promises. As Charlie Brooker of The Guardian explains, “We’re trying to adapt, because hyperbole is the official language of the Internet, a talk shop is so hopelessly crowded that only the harshest wording can have any effect.”

If you want your brand’s authority and influence to remain intact, avoid exaggerating your social media posts.

A helpful tip to avoid the clickbait is to ask yourself if the claim you’re making is actually true. Here are some common terms you should stay away from:

  • Best/Best: Can you really support the claim that what you are offering is really the “best” advice? Don’t give your audience the opportunity to doubt you or question your credibility.
  • Worst: Same tip as above. If you’re going to say something is “the worst,” make sure it’s true.
  • Need: Again, ask yourself if this is the best word to use in your social media content. When “this” is a video of you reenacting a Shakespeare scene with your ferret, does someone “absolutely need to see this”? When you see everything you post on social media as a “must see” or “must read” it becomes a “crying child” situation and your audience will quickly understand.
  • Just: While it may be tempting to say that your post is “the only guide to _____ you need,” the truth is that there are probably other posts of the same type and with similar information. When you use this type of language, you still give your audience a chance to challenge your claims, which can cause you to lose credibility.

4. Terrible job titles

The last set of terms to consider cutting from your social media vocabulary relates to marketing job descriptions. Some of these I’ve come across are:

  • Social Media Ninja
  • Marketing Rockstar
  • Content Maven
  • Social Media Guru
  • Social Media Hacker
  • Growth Hacker
  • social media witch

Such nicknames, while seemingly innocent and funny, can actually have detrimental effects on your professional personality. As Seshu Kiran, Founder and CEO of XAir, says, weird titles are counterproductive because they don’t directly address your skills and experience.

According to a study by the Digital Media Stream Agency, 72 percent of people in tech admit that they don’t use real job titles when talking to people outside the industry. This points to a huge gap of understanding that does no one any favors.

The immense power of language means that careful consideration of the words and phrases you use in your social media and content strategies is key.

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