The acronym “SNS” (Social Networking Site) is made up of three English words, so it looks like it’s English.
But is the acronym “SNS” (Social Networking Site) a “real” English acronym used in English by native speakers of English, or is it mainly used in English by native speakers of Japanese, and people from nearby Asian countries?
Answer
Citing only my own experience as a person living in Chicago and working in the online sector, I can say that this initialism is not in use at all in the US.
I have heard:
- “social” as an adjective attached to pretty much anything
- “social networking” as a general concept referring to all social sites collectively
- “social networks” ditto
In my experience, if one is referring to such sites, one names each in question.
(We probably don’t use as many, in general, so this might be more feasible for us.)
Here’s an example conversation:
“What’s Oggl?”
“It’s a social app for picture sharing.”
“How does it work?”
“It taps into your social networks and posts photos to one or more at a time.”
“Oh? Which ones?”
“Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.”
“I see. Sounds like a good use of social networking.”
Basically, as far as I can tell, the answer is that it does seem like a primarily Asian phenomenon. I have conversations similar to the one above every day, attend and give presentations on related topics, read my fair share of tech blogs, and I have never heard “SNS” spoken or seen it written.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Andrew Grimm , Answer Author : Tyler James Young
