Symbols on Facebook That Teens Use

Abbreviations

• The Internet is a vast arena of initialisms or abbreviations, sometimes referred to as acronyms -- though that is only the case if the initialism is uttered as a word -- designed to speed up conversation and simplify entering text. The abbreviations that people often use in emails, chats and instant messaging also show up on Facebook, too, with new ones appearing regularly. When you see these abbreviations, the letters stand for common phrases. For example, BBL stands for ̶0;be back later̶1; and NM stands for ̶0;never mind.̶1; By learning common initialisms, you can decipher many of your teen̵7;s Facebook updates and comments.

Emoticons and Stickers

• Because text on a screen lacks facial expressions and voice inflections, it can be difficult to understand the feelings behind the words. You may notice your teenager using emoticons in or after text in Facebook to add hints about the emotions she̵7;s feeling. Facebook offers a variety of emoticons, easily selected prior to posting a comment or status update by clicking the ̶0;Smiley̶1; below the text box. If a teen enters an unsupported emoticon symbol, it will simply appear as the code ̵1; not the smiley. Facebook also offers ̶0;stickers,̶1; which are larger pictures of characters available for use in private messages. By clicking the smiley face in the message box, a list of available stickers appears for selection.

Alt Symbols

• Similar to, yet slightly different than, emoticons, ̶0;alt̶1; symbols are additional symbols your teen might place in Facebook comments and status updates. By pressing the ̶0;alt̶1; key before keys on the numeric pad of a keyboard, a variety of symbols become possible. For example, the combination of ̶0;alt̶1; and numeric ̶0;1̶1; will create a white smiley face and ̶0;alt̶1; and numeric ̶0;15̶1; will create a sun, according to PCWorld.

Hashtags

• You may notice your teenager adding unfamiliar words at the end of Facebook updates, preceded by the ̶0;#̶1; sign. These words -- known as ̶0;hashtags̶1; -- are keywords that link text on social media. By adding relevant and descriptive hashtags to a comments or updates, other people can find information they want. Hashtags enable your teen to connect Facebook updates with Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, according to an article published on PCMAg.com.