Glossary
Short, plain definitions of the terms we use.
- Account Network
- Erfan Media's owned family of 60+ pro-democracy social accounts, each with its own niche, that share and amplify each other's posts.
- Cold open
- The strongest moment of a video placed at the very start to hook viewers before the intro.
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- The share of people who click a video after seeing its thumbnail and title.
- Retention
- How much of a video viewers watch on average.
- Run of show
- The ordered list of stories, clips and hooks for an episode or livestream.
- Short
- A vertical video under three minutes for YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Reels or Facebook Reels.
- Weave
- A video format that weaves the host's commentary between sourced clips of the news.
- Debate prep
- Research, likely arguments and short comebacks prepared before a debate or media appearance.
- Amplification
- Sharing a post across several accounts at once to give it early momentum.
- Impressions
- How many times a post was shown on screen.
- Paid for by disclaimer
- The line paid political content must carry naming who paid for it.
- Creator Services
- Erfan Media's services for creators: editing, shorts, thumbnails, scripts, channel management, debate prep and growth.
- Original Content
- Erfan Media's own posts, clips and graphics made and distributed on the Account Network.
- Political content
- Posts, videos and graphics about politics, policy, elections or causes.
- Political influencer
- A creator whose audience follows them for political news and commentary.
- Creator campaign
- A paid effort where many creators post about the same message, each in their own voice.
- Creator marketplace
- A platform where sponsors post campaigns and creators join the ones that fit them, like Pamphlet.
- Pamphlet
- A marketplace for value-aligned creator campaigns built by Erfan Media, at joinpamphlet.com.
- Brief
- A short document with a campaign's message, audience, must-says and don'ts.
- Talking points
- The key messages a creator should get across in a sponsored post.
- Hook
- The first line or first second of a post or video that makes people stop scrolling.
- Thumbnail
- The image shown before a video plays. With the title, it decides whether people click.
- Packaging
- A video's title and thumbnail together.
- Clip
- A short excerpt from a longer video, stream, debate or podcast.
- Vertical video
- Video shot or cut in a 9:16 frame for phones.
- Reels
- Short vertical videos on Instagram and Facebook.
- YouTube Shorts
- YouTube's vertical short video format.
- Long form
- Videos usually over eight minutes, the main format on YouTube.
- Explainer
- A video or post that breaks down a policy or story in plain terms.
- Rapid response
- Content made and posted within minutes or hours of a news moment.
- Organic reach
- People who see a post without paid promotion.
- Paid reach
- People who see a post because someone paid to promote it.
- Whitelisting
- When a creator lets a sponsor run ads from the creator's account.
- CPM
- Cost per thousand views.
- Engagement rate
- Likes, comments and shares divided by views or followers.
- Views
- How many times a video or post was watched or seen, depending on the platform.
- Community Notes
- X's crowd-sourced fact checks attached to posts.
- Ratio
- When a reply gets more engagement than the post it answers.
- Meme page
- An account that posts humor and memes for a niche, often politics.
- Page network
- A group of accounts run by one team that share and amplify each other's posts.
- Digital organizing
- Using online tools and content to recruit, persuade and mobilize people.
- Persuasion content
- Content aimed at changing the minds of undecided audiences.
- Mobilization content
- Content aimed at getting supporters to act, like voting or donating.
- Message testing
- Trying different versions of a message to see which performs best.
- FTC disclosure
- The label, such as #ad, that US rules require on sponsored posts.
- Super PAC
- A political committee that can raise and spend unlimited sums independently of campaigns.
- PAC
- A political action committee that raises and spends money on elections within contribution limits.
- Issue advocacy
- Content that pushes a cause or policy rather than a candidate.
- Livestream
- A live broadcast on YouTube, Twitch, Kick or another platform.
- Channel audit
- A review of a channel's videos, packaging and data to find what to change.
- Style guide
- The rules for how a creator's edits, thumbnails and titles should look.
- Content calendar
- A schedule of what gets posted where and when.
- Creator economy
- The businesses and platforms built around independent creators.