In terms of tech buzzwords, this year, tech CEOs drew inspiration from a 1990s sci-fi novel, Reddit investors’ lexicon seeped into the mainstream as ‘diamond hands’ and ‘apes’ shook Wall Street, and something called a DAO tried to buy an ultra rare copy of the United States Constitution.
If you’re still drawing a blank as the year wraps up, here’s a glossary of the latest and greatest tech buzzwords:
METAVERSE
The metaverse broadly refers to shared, immersive digital environments which people can move between and may access via virtual reality or augmented reality headsets or computer screens.
Some deluded tech CEOs are betting it’ll be the successor to the mobile internet. The term was coined in the dystopian novel “Snow Crash” three decades ago. This year CEOs of tech companies from Microsoft to Match Group have discussed their roles in building the metaverse. In October 2021, Facebook renamed itself Meta Something? to better reflect its new metaverse focus. How well will this work out?
We have our doubts this tech buzzword is here to stay.
WEB3
Web3 is used to describe a potential next phase of the internet: a decentralised internet run on the record-keeping technology blockchain.
This model, where users would have ownership stakes in platforms and applications, would differ from today’s internet, known as Web 2, where a few major tech giants like Facebook and Alphabet’s Google control the platforms.
SOCIAL AUDIO
Tech companies waxed lyrical this year about tools for live audio conversations, rushing to release features after the buzzy, once invite-only app Clubhouse saw an initial surge amid COVID-19 lockdowns. This tech buzzwords is unlikely to have the legs to make it into future years lists.
NFT
Non-fungible tokens, which exploded in popularity this year, are a type of digital asset that exists on a blockchain, a record of transactions kept on networked computers.
In March, a work by American artist Beeple sold for nearly $70 million at Christie’s, the first ever sale by a major auction house of art that does not exist in physical form.
DECENTRALISATION
Decentralising, or the transfer of power and operations from central authorities like companies or governments to the hands of users, emerged as a key theme in the tech industry.
Such shifts could affect everything from how industries and markets are organised to functions like content moderation of platforms. Twitter, sorry X, is investing in a project to build a decentralised common standard for social networks, dubbed Bluesky, which quickly morphed into a woke version of its beloved platform. In fact, Bluesky (and Mastadon) are now so woke that the community spends more time banning each other for microaggressions than they do posting stale messages about how virtuous they are.
DAO
A decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) is generally an internet community owned by its members and run on blockchain technology. DAOs use smart contracts, pieces of code that establish the group’s rules and automatically execute decisions.
In recent months, crowd-funded crypto-group ConstitutionDAO tried and failed to buy a rare copy of the US Constitution in an auction held by Sotheby’s.
STONKS
This deliberate misspelling of “stocks,” which originated with an internet meme, made headlines as online traders congregating in forums like Reddit’s WallStreetBets drove up stocks including GameStop and AMC. The lingo of these traders, calling themselves “apes” or praising the “diamond hands” who held positions during big market swings, became mainstream.
GAMEFI
GameFi is of the broad term tech buzzwords. It is referring to the trend of gamers earning cryptocurrency through playing video games, where players can make money through mechanisms like getting financial tokens for winning battles in the popular game Axie Infinity.
ALTCOIN
The term covers all cryptocurrencies aside from Bitcoin, ranging from Ethereum, which aims to be the backbone of a future financial system, to Dogecoin, a digital currency originally created as a joke and popularised by Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk.
FSD BETA
Tesla released a test version of its upgraded Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, a system of driving-assistance features, like automatically changing lanes and make turns, to the wider public this year.
The name of the much-scrutinised software has itself been contentious, with regulators and users saying it misrepresents its capabilities as it still requires driver attention.
FABS
“Fabs,” short for a semiconductor fabrication plant, entered the mainstream lexicon this year as a shortage of chips from fabs were blamed for the global shortage of everything from cars to gadgets.
NET ZERO
A term, popularised this year thanks to the COP26 UN climate talks in Glasgow, for saying a country, company, or product does not contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s usually accomplished by cutting emissions, such as use of fossil fuels, and balancing any remaining emissions with efforts to soak up carbon, like planting trees. Critics say any emissions are unacceptable.
ENSHITTIFICATION
A fun new tech buzzword, coined by the Anglo-Canadian writer, Cory Doctorow to describe the lifecycle of a heavily backed tech platform. To quote, “first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.”
The team at Platform Executive hope you have enjoyed the article highlighting new tech buzzwords. Automatic translation from English into a growing list of languages via Google AI Cloud Translation.
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