If you’ve ever scrolled through your feed and thought, wtf does that even mean?, you’re definitely not alone.
According to new research, “FB” has officially been crowned the most confusing social media acronym in America — racking up over 2.26 million monthly searches from people trying to figure it out.
Website design agency ProfileTree analyzed the most common social media abbreviations (think “LOL” and “FYI”) and compared search volumes for phrases like “what does FB mean” or “what does AMA stand for.” The results?
Let’s just say even the most online among us are still Googling.
Top 10 most confusing social media abbreviations
- FB – 2,263,896 monthly searches
- TIME – 1,035,678
- AMA – 899,641
- NWS – 670,511
- MSG – 668,962
- DL – 650,609
- ATM – 648,098
- BBL – 563,352
- LOL – 512,577
- SMH – 471,476
Let’s break them down
FB takes the crown with a mind-blowing 2.26 million searches every month. It’s short for Follow Back — not Facebook — and Washington residents are the most likely to be asking what it means.
TIME comes next, with 1.03 million monthly searches. Nope, it’s not the magazine. On social media, it means Tears In My Eyes — kind of like a more emotional emoji. Marylanders are most likely to look this one up.
AMA, short for Ask Me Anything, is third with nearly 900K searches. It’s often used by influencers or celebs inviting questions from their followers — but Colorado residents seem to still be asking… questions about the acronym itself.
In fourth place is NWS, meaning No Worries, searched most by South Dakotans.
And MSG, which literally just means Message, lands in fifth place — with New Yorkers topping the confusion charts on that one.
The list goes on with DL (Down-Low), ATM (At The Moment — not the cash machine), and BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) … Honestly, no wonder people are lost.
Even LOL (Laugh Out Loud) and SMH (Shaking My Head) — basically internet royalty — are still getting hundreds of thousands of monthly searches. Apparently, we’ve been laughing out loud and shaking our heads without knowing what for.
The bonus round
A few other abbreviations deserve honorable mentions:
- NSFW (Not Suitable For Work) – 447,421 searches
- QT (Cutie) – 359,862 searches
- PPL (People) – 349,759 searches
So if your group chat ever leaves you staring blankly at your screen, don’t stress — even Alaska, apparently the most acronym-confused state in America, racks up more than 12,000 searches a month trying to decode the internet’s favorite shortcuts.
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