NetLingo: Guidelines for Adding Terms

1. Add terms about the Internet industry. This includes new terms in any of our categories: Acronyms, Business, Jargon, Marketing, Hardware, Software, Programming, Organizations, Technology and Technical Terms. more >
: You can include company names and individual's names but only if they are well-known organizations or people within the industry. If you're writing an example, you can use generic names to make your point, for example, "Jane caught John twittering when she took a biobreak on their date."
2. Add terms about the online culture. NetLingo tracks ALL of the language used in the online world, including slang and leetspeak. And while grammar is still important, we write in layman's language, in an easy-to-understand style, using examples to help explain. more >
: Basically any word you see used online belongs in NetLingo, so you can add words whether or not they are in a real dictionary. Be careful not to misspell your words as many modern terms are in CamelCase or spelled phonetically.
3. It's okay to add words that include profanity but only if it's part of the term. This means if a cuss word is part of the original term, you should include it (but you don't have to spell it out if you don't want to, you can instead use f*** and sh**). more >
: For example, SNAFU - Situation Normal All F***ed Up. On NetLingo we spell out bitch, ass, and other cusskiddies, just not f*** and sh**.
4. Be as descriptive but concise as possible. The first paragraph of each definition appears in the various NetLingo Word of the Day emails and feeds so it's important to get your point across immediately. more >
: NetLingo is a dictionary and as such, definitions are best written in a dictionary style. Try not to use an opinion unless it is useful to readers as an example. Try not to "date" a definition without including a specific year for example "In the past year WiFi has penetrated 50% of the air space" is incorrect; rather it should state "In 2007, WiFi penetrated 50% of the air space due to regulation and agreed-upon standards."
5. Do not add sexual terms unless they are descriptive of a sector in the industry, a specific technology, or an acronym or text message shorthand phrase. more >
: Do not add a sexual term or definition unless it is related to an Internet technology or the Internet industry, or it is a new media business term or an online communication phrase.
6. Do not add nonsense. more >
: Do not add nonsensical, circular, unspecific or all-caps entries. While non-English words and examples are okay, do not add or approve entries with non-English definitions. Be mindful to check for similar or duplicate entries before adding a new term.
7. Do not submit ads for websites. more >
: Do not add terms whose only purpose is to advertise a website; NetLingo has an ad service for this.
8. Go ahead and add it if it seems reasonable. more >
: It's better to submit a plausible entry than not, we will ensure it is actually in use before we publish it. You might not have heard the word, but it could be the next eating your own dog food.
9. Add new terms within the proper format. more >
: Each field in the Add Your Own Lingo page appears within the dictionary definition so when appropriate, be sure to fill out as many fields as possible including "word," "acronym defined (if appropriate)," "prononciation (if appropriate)," "definition," "word image (if appropriate)," "see also," "term type," "link (names and URLs)," "download (names and URLs)," "search (names and URLs)."
See the Internet definition for an illustration of each field. If you have a PDF document to submit as a "more info" or "faq" page, please email it to info@netlingo.com.

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