Description

In the realm of social media, a description is the textual element used to relay information about a profile, post, or piece of content with the aim of facilitating user understanding. You may encounter the word 'description' and, in some instances, be told that it is the same as 'caption,' but there are distinct differences. When you are looking at an individual post on a social media platform, the description that accompanies it is an immediate step toward establishing meaning. For visual content (which is the predominant form of expression on social media these days), the complementary text enhances user interaction and engagement. Some platforms, like Instagram, lean toward a more caption-style description. In contrast, when you are looking at a social media profile, the description is even more crucial for user understanding. Courting users to follow your account means you need to hook them with essentially a 'You should care about me/this content' declaration in as succinct and compelling a fashion as possible.

For social media profiles, the description can generally be found in the 'bio' part of the profile. Whereas the use of 'bio' as a noun may indeed lead one to think of a 'written account of someone's life,' the use of the description on a social media profile is as much about the future as it is about the past. 'Here's what I did before I stepped onto this digital stage. And here's what I plan to do now and in the immediate as a part of my mission.'