Jargon Buster - F
FAQ- A list of questions and answers that are related to a Web site, newsgroup, software or any kind of product or service. Most users can find answers to their questions on the FAQ list, so before contacting customer service or tech support you should check this list.
Flaming- The act of deliberately posting messages to a message board or e-mail list that are hostile and insulting. The messages are called “flames.” A flame may look like a normal message, but it will have a degrading tone and intent. Some flamers are attempting to assert their authority or establish superiority on a subject in a condescending manner. Most often flames are insulting messages that are posted by someone who has strong feelings on the subject matter.
Folksonomy- An open ended labeling system (such as the use of “tags”) that helps Internet users to categorize content online. Folksonomy is used to categorize web pages, online photographs and web links. It is changing the way that people search for information on the Internet.
The key difference between folksonomy and other labeling systems are that users develop the labels. The labels are freely chosen and completely subjective. As a result, the labels that are created are more “organic” to the group of users.
Forums- An Internet forum is a place on the World Wide Web for holding discussions. Normally, forum members will either discuss one specific topic or have a common thread among all of the members. For example, there are discussion groups for Work At Home mothers where they will discuss not only business related topics, but parenting, budgeting and time-management as well.
Forums allow individuals to really connect with one another across distance using the Internet. Unlike e-mail, and messages posted to the forum will be viewable by all forum members. In fact, information posted on forums is part of the public knowledge for years to come.
Forums are supported by many different software platforms, and are very user friendly. For a lot of Internet newcomers, forums are their first entry into using the Internet. Some of the other common terms for forums are web forums, discussion forums, bulletin boards, message boards, discussion boards and discussion groups.
Forward- Redirecting mail from your inbox to another e-mail user. If you have messages from one person that you would like to share with another person, you can forward the messages to the latter. Normally, this is achieved by simply clicking the “forward” button on your e-mail program and entering the second party’s e-mail address. This is also a helpful way of distributing important information.
Certain messages, however, encourage the recipient to forward them on to someone else. These are online versions of chain letters. Most “forwards” as they are called involve both an inspirational message and a promise for good luck if you forward the message on. Chain email is annoying to most recipients and is discouraged as part of good netiquette.
Free Reprint Articles (FRA)- Articles that are free to publish on web pages. Normally, these articles are distributed by article directories and are categorized by topic. FRAs are used to add content to web pages that will help attract search engine traffic.
For example, if you have a website on which you sell antique dollhouses, you would search for FRAs that deal with your site. Using FRAs is the quickest way to get quality content for a website.
Article directories list available articles in specific categories and normally have a searchable database. Some of the most popular article directory sites are:
FTP- The standard method for downloading and uploading files on the Internet. The term is an anagram for “file transfer protocol.” There are many FTP public archive sites online that you can access with your e-mail address. Understanding FTP is necessary if you want to create your own website.
Posted on August 6, 2008 by 
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