Term shorter than "microblog" as generic equivalent of "tweet"
I search rather than Google and vacuum rather than Hoover. Technically I microblog rather than tweet, but it just doesn't sound as snappy. Is there a short (single syllable?), established, generic term I can use in case I switch to identi.ca?
Use microblog.
Here are the various verbs out there that Twitter competitors and users are actually using and therefore would be meaningful.
- Identi.ca – microblog
- Jaiku (defunct) – "share updates" and "share short messages"
- Sprout – microblog
- Plurk – plurk
- Pownce (defunct) – "send stuff"
- Tumblr - microblog
- Yammer – microblog
I conclude that microblog is the accepted term in circulation that means publish via a short message service. The only shorter, snappier terms are vendor specific.
Microblog is the only verb that refers specifically to short public postings to social networking services like Twitter. However, in many contexts post and update, while more generic, will do.
For example,
“She wastes all of her time microblogging on Twitter.”
can be replaced with
“She wastes all of here time posting to Twitter.”
Post and update also apply in social networking contexts where microblog doesn't make sense. One does not microblog on Facebook, but one does post to Facebook.
Just a historical note on what is an old question that has burbled back into activity.
My understanding was that "tumblelog" was the original term for posting short messages on a social media platform. Kottke.org has a nice definition from 2005: "A tumblelog is a quick and dirty stream of consciousness, a bit like a remaindered links style linklog but with more than just links." The same post also uses it as a verb ("tumblelogging"). This is also where the "Tumblr" name came from.
However, as this TechTarget definition suggests, "microblog/ging" is now the more common term.
FWIW. ;)