Internet forum terminology

thumb|class=skin-invert-image|upright=0.8|An emoticon portraying a smiling face thumb|class=skin-invert-image|upright=0.8|Examples of kaomoji smileys

upright=1.35|thumb|This CAPTCHA (GIMPY-R, c. 2005) of "smwm" obscures its message from computer interpretation by twisting the letters and adding a slight background color gradient.

graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character

online act of posting insults, often laced with profanity or other offensive language on social networking sites

An imageboard (IB) is a type of Internet forum that focuses on the posting of images, often alongside text and discussion. The first imageboards were created in Japan as an extension of the textboard concept. These sites later inspired the creation of a number of English-language imageboards.

hypothesis that more people will lurk in a virtual community than will participate

mode of electronic communication

digital media featuring a picture, or artwork, superimposed with some form of text

a topic outside the bounds of the current discussion

hierarchical sequence of on-line discussion contributions (postings)

the process of detecting contributions that are irrelevant, obscene, illegal, harmful, or insulting with regards to useful or informative contributions

online text-based role-playing game in which players interact with each other and a predefined environment via text

personalized block of text appended to an email message, Usenet article, or forum post

thumb|right|An arbitrary Identicon An Identicon is a visual representation of a hash value, usually of an IP address, that serves to identify a user of a computer system as an effectively random form of avatar while protecting the user's privacy. The original Identicon was a 9-block graphic, and the representation has been extended to other graphic forms by third parties.

thumb|right|A screenshot of the Kareha software A textboard is a simple kind of Internet forum; most textboards require neither registration nor entry of a screen name. Textboards, like imageboards, were invented in Japan, but they remain relatively unknown outside it, in contrast to imageboards (such as 4chan and 8chan).

posts on Internet forums that contains related or unrelated advertisements

slang word