Media Glossary

Browse 28 media terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

28 Media Terms

AI Content
Content such as text, images, audio, or video created partially or fully by AI systems. In culture and business discussions, the phrase often centers on scale,...
Analog
Describing physical, continuous, or non-digital systems and experiences, often in contrast with software, automation, and screens. In tech culture, analog can...
Attention Economy
The idea that human attention is a scarce resource that platforms, products, and media compete to capture and monetize. In tech culture the phrase often comes...
Audio API
An application programming interface used to capture, process, generate, analyze, or play audio data. Audio APIs can expose low-level buffers and timing...
Audio Processing
The manipulation or analysis of audio data through operations such as filtering, resampling, mixing, compression, silence detection, feature extraction, or...
Black Mirror
A television series known for speculative stories about technology, surveillance, platforms, and unintended consequences. In tech culture, referencing Black...
Clickbait
Content framed with exaggerated, misleading, or curiosity-driven titles and hooks designed primarily to attract clicks rather than to communicate accurately....
Cost Per Mille
The cost of one thousand ad impressions, with 'mille' meaning thousand. CPM is used to price and compare awareness-focused advertising inventory.
CPM
Short for cost per mille, the cost of one thousand ad impressions. It is a standard metric in brand and awareness advertising.
Developer Newsletter
A newsletter aimed at developers, usually sharing technical articles, tool updates, release notes, or curated commentary. In culture, good developer...
Digital Rights Management
Technical controls used to restrict how digital media or software can be accessed, copied, or used after distribution. DRM is intended to enforce licensing...
DRM
Short for digital rights management, the technical controls used to limit copying, playback, or redistribution of digital content according to licensing rules....
echo chamber
An information environment in which a person encounters only beliefs and opinions that reinforce their own, creating a feedback loop that amplifies existing...
Eyeball Metric
A crude metric focused on attention or audience size, such as views or visitors, often criticized when it stands in for more meaningful business outcomes. The...
Fair Use
A legal doctrine in U.S. copyright law that can permit limited use of copyrighted material without permission in contexts such as commentary, criticism, news...
Fake News
False or misleading information presented in the style of legitimate news. In digital culture the term became widely used in debates about misinformation,...
FFmpeg
A widely used open-source multimedia toolkit for processing, transcoding, streaming, and converting audio and video.
filter bubble
A state of intellectual isolation resulting from algorithms that selectively curate the information a user sees based on their past behavior, location, and...
Gone Viral
Describing content, a product, or a moment that spreads extremely quickly across networks and attracts sudden widespread attention. In internet culture the...
GStreamer
An open-source multimedia framework for building pipelines that handle audio, video, and related media processing. In media and Linux culture, GStreamer is...
Hackernews Frontpage
The highly visible set of top stories on Hacker News, often treated as a milestone for attention in startup and developer circles.
Newsletter
A recurring email publication used to share updates, links, analysis, product news, or community highlights with subscribers. In tech it is a common format for...
Pivot to Video
Pivot to Video was a widely criticized strategy in digital media during 2016-2018 where numerous news and content organizations laid off writers and editorial...
Shark Tank
The television show where founders pitch businesses to investors on-air, now widely referenced in startup culture as shorthand for performative investor...
Sizzle Reel
A short polished video or montage designed to generate excitement, credibility, or narrative momentum around a company, product, or launch. It is more about...
Tech Crunch
A reference to TechCrunch, the startup and technology news publication known for covering funding rounds, product launches, acquisitions, and founder...
VLC
A widely used open-source media player known for supporting many audio and video formats out of the box.
WebCodecs
A low-level browser API that provides direct access to hardware video and audio encoders and decoders, allowing frame-by-frame control over media processing...

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