Avatar 

The origin of the word "avatar" for our digital representations is mysterious, starting with the Sanskrit term avatara, which is commonly used to describe a god descending from the heavens into a human form. The term entered the English dictionary in the late 18th century through Hindi, maintaining its mystical meaning until Neal Stephenson's 1992 novel Snow Crash popularized it in a technological context.

Blending ideas of virtual world creation and embodiment, "avatar" perfectly symbolizes computers as a gateway to a new kind of experience.

With so many online avatars and characters to choose from, it can be difficult to keep track of them all and even find them.

Hashtags 

In the 1920s, the # sign was used as an abbreviation for pounds in America (and it is still referred to as the pound sign). It was popularized by telephone engineers at Bell Labs in the 1960s and is sometimes called an "octothorpe". However, it is on Twitter that hashtags have truly become significant, serving as a code for social interaction. If you have used Twitter or Google+, you may already be familiar with hashtags. Simply put, a hashtag allows people to search for tweets with a common theme and start a conversation. For example, searching #SUSANBOYLE will display tweets related to the British talent show star. Tweets without the hashtag, such as "I lost my phone yesterday", will not appear in the search results. Hashtags are believed to have originated on Twitter, but they are not exclusive to the platform. Some believe they gained popularity when a plane landed in the Hudson River in 2009, and a Twitter user added #flight1549 to their post. Others who wrote about the event also included the hashtag, causing it to go viral. Thousands of people then began using the hashtag in their tweets. If you wanted information about the situation, you could search for "#flight1549" and see all the tweets about it.

Scunthorpe problems 

The interaction between people and machines in computing can sometimes feel like a battle rather than a collaboration, as demonstrated by the Scunthorpe problem. This issue occurs when search engines implement filters to block certain words, causing problems for residents of Scunthorpe who are unable to open accounts due to the presence of a specific word in the town's name. Similar challenges have been encountered in other locations such as Penistone in Yorkshire, Lightwater in Surrey, and Clitheroe in Lancashire.

Trolling 

Internet trolling is the act of causing interpersonal conflict and controversy online. Unfortunately, there are individuals who derive pleasure from humiliating and attacking others on the internet. Psychologists and experts have studied this phenomenon and provided explanations for why it persists.

While it is generally believed that most people have good intentions and are inherently good, research has shown that even good people can exhibit negative behavior in certain situations, particularly when influenced by mob mentality.

Anonymity plays a significant role in enabling such behavior. When people believe they can remain anonymous, they are more likely to engage in actions they would not otherwise consider. Additionally, the absence of real-time conversations allows individuals to quickly post negative comments and then escape the consequences. Furthermore, individuals who are self-absorbed and rebellious may be more inclined to target strangers online.

Memes 

Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme” in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene as a shortening of the Ancient Greek term mimeme (“an imitated thing”). He designed his new word to sound like “gene”, signifying a unit of cultural transmission. Little did he know that his term would become one of the most iconic of online phenomena, embodying the capacity of the internet to itself act as a kind of gene-pool for thoughts and beliefs – and for infectious, endlessly ingenious slices of time-wasting.

LOL 

If you type "LOL" or "lol", you are essentially expressing "laughing out loud", unless you are a mother who uses it to describe a death in the family. It's like giving instructions for a play, emphasizing the act of typing. This may seem simple, but it signifies a significant shift in language. For the first time ever, we are having conversations through written words (or more specifically, by typing on screens). And in doing so, we are putting in great effort to make words and symbols convey the same range of emotions as face-to-face interactions. However, it is also a form of performance, where we carefully construct appearances that may not necessarily reflect reality.

Spam 

The term "spam" may be the most lasting contribution of the British comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus. In a key episode from 1970, there was a sketch called "SPAM" that featured the brand name used by Hormel Foods Corporation since 1937. The sketch took place in a cafe where almost every item on the menu included spam, and it ended with Viking warriors chanting the word "spam" to drown out everyone else's voices. This sketch was a satirical critique of British culinary monotony. However, in the early 1980s, the word "spam" took on a new meaning when people started copying and pasting it repeatedly in online discussions to disrupt the conversation. Inspired by Monty Python, this act of spamming became a popular way to drown out "real" content. And the rest, as they say, is repetitive history.

Meh 

The word "meh" has unknown origins, but it is believed to have originated from the Aberdeen and Embassy area of Woodbridge, Ontario, as well as the downtown core of Brantford, Ontario. The exact definition of "meh" has not been established, but it is commonly used to express indifference or lack of interest. It is renowned for its ability to change meanings frequently and is considered a marvel. Further information will be provided once the proper definition and examples have been discovered.