A deliberately provocative opinion published quickly, often without much thought.

Spreading rapidly and widely online, usually beyond the creator's existing audience.

The idea that most online content and activity is now generated by bots rather than people.

A screenshot of a public apology written in a phone's notes app.

Someone who replies to a specific account's every post, usually unprompted and usually a man.

A restricted audience for stories, marked by a green ring — and a social hierarchy in itself.

A second, private Instagram account for close friends, with lower-effort and more honest posts.

Posting content designed purely to trigger replies, likes and shares rather than to say anything.

Having your content quietly suppressed without being told, so you post into a void.

Coded language invented to avoid automated content moderation.

The recommendation system that decides what you see — spoken about as if it were a person with intentions.

Treating ordinary daily moments as beautiful and cinematic on purpose.

A minor mental breakdown, described lightly.

A meal assembled from snacks and leftovers rather than cooked.

Deliberately unkempt, lazy, self-indulgent behaviour with no attempt at presentability.

Someone outside a subculture who follows mainstream tastes.

A censorship-dodging substitute for "kill" or "die", used to avoid automated moderation.

An instruction to stop engaging with the internet, usually for your own good.

Doing something specifically to gain online attention rather than for any genuine reason.

Online influence and visibility, treated as a resource people accumulate.

Following one piece of content into an increasingly deep and specific chain of related material.

Someone aggressive online who would never behave that way in person.

A coordinated group descending on someone's post or account to attack it.

Someone who becomes beloved online and is then revealed to have a terrible history.