Because of the 280-character limit for Tweets, people often abbreviate common words and phrases on Twitter. This shorthand has trickled into other social media forms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. The following table has abbreviations, or Twitter shorthand, that you see often. You will most likely want to use the shorthand, so the table illustrates its use in Twitter messaging.
Social Media Shorthand
| Abbreviation | What It Means | Usage |
| 4 | For | What do you want it 4? |
| 4U | For you | I have something 4U. |
| BFN | Bye for now | Off to work, BFN. |
| BTW | By the way | BTW, I stopped by your office. |
| DM | Direct message | Sent you a DM. |
| FYI | For your information | FYI, I’ll be there. |
| IC | I see | IC you’ve changed your avatar. |
| ICYMI | In case you missed it | ICYMI I posted that yesterday. |
| IMHO | In my humble opinion | I think that’s bad IMHO. |
| IRL | In real life | Can’t wait to meet you IRL. |
| LMAO | Laughing my a** off | That’s so funny! LMAO! |
| LOL | Laughing out loud | OK, I’m LOL! |
| OH | Overheard | OH (at the beauty salon): Love your haircut. |
| OMG | Oh my gosh | OMG, I can’t believe I watched that video. |
| PITA | Pain in the a** | My kids are driving me crazy. What a PITA |
| ROFL | Rolling on the floor laughing | And now I’m ROFL. |
| RT | Retweet | RT is what you see when someone repeats one of your Tweets to their followers. |
| RU | Are you | RU going to the Tweetup? |
| SMH | Shaking my head | They did what? SMH! |
| Tweet | Post a comment on Twitter | Have you posted a Tweet today? |
| Tweeps | Twitter members | I got RTs from 6 Tweeps today. |
| Tweetup | A real life meetup of Twitter members | Where’s the Tweetup? |
| Twitterverse | The world of Twitter | Welcome to the Twitterverse! |
| TY | Thank you | TY for all the RTs. |
| W00t! | Yay! | W00t! I got a deal at the store today! |
