On the Internet, what is a "bump"?
Bumping is one of the most irritating internet behaviors. Here's why and what they're trying to communicate if you've ever seen someone spam "bump" on a post for no apparent reason.
[Activate My Post]
A "bump" is a post or comment made solely for the goal of raising the visibility of the principal message on the internet. It was once only seen on message boards, but it is now widely used in group discussions, direct messages, and postings on social media sites like Facebook and Reddit.
"Dancing or moving to music" is a less prominent but nonetheless prevalent colloquial definition for a bump. You might tell a friend that a music "makes you bump," for example. A bump can also be used to describe a song, as in "this song is a bump!"
[Bumping's Beginnings]
The practice of "bumping" can be traced back to message boards. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, these forum websites were immensely popular, with many communities forming around shared interests. There was a forum for almost anything at this time: programming, vinyl records, parenting, and so on. Newer members were frequently frustrated by the lack of responses to their messages and would "bump" the topic to make it more visible.
The initial entry in Urban Dictionary for "bump" came in January 2003, making it one of the earliest entries among the slang terms we've covered. "To move a post to the top of the forum with a meaningless reply in message board jargon," it says.
Bumping would eventually make its way to Facebook groups, which were previously arranged chronologically. Bumping was highly frequent in community groupings where people could trade commodities. Bumping, on the other hand, has lost its capacity to make postings more visible due to changes to Facebook's algorithm.
[Sorting and Threads]
The way forums were arranged in the early 2000s is one of the main reasons why "bumps" exist.
Most message boards have traditionally divided debate subjects into threads made up of entries from various users. By default, forums were organized by the most recent threads. Users may get their threads to the top of the forum in the early days by bumping them. Members did this to draw attention to their own threads, resurrect old or dormant threads, and encourage people to answer to their inquiries.
Bump posts didn't have to be just "bump" and nothing else. Many were meaningless answers, uninteresting news, or reiterations of previous thread points. Bumping was frowned upon by a few forum moderators. In many communities, pointless bumping was against the rules and may result in a ban.
Chronological sorting, on the other hand, has largely vanished. Instead of using algorithmic formulas based on user engagement and content to decide your social feed or the order of a group's posts, social media sites now employ algorithmic formulae based on user engagement and material. Other networks, such as Reddit, use a "karma" system to reward high-quality material.
Bumping posts is no longer effective as a result of these changes, yet some individuals still do it. If you've ever looked through a Facebook group dedicated to buying and selling, you may have noticed a few sales listings with dozens of bumps but no buyers.
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In this age of texting, though, "bump" has taken on a new meaning. It can be found in private messaging and group talks amongst friends and family, rather than on message boards and Facebook Marketplace.
"Bump" is synonymous with "reminder" in this context. If you haven't responded to a question your friend gave you a few days ago, they may message you with "bump." This is also something that can happen in group threads. If one of your pals is organizing a large group trip, they may "bump" your travel information a few days before departure.
Even if there isn't a preceding message to bump, you can use this. For example, if you and a friend had a face-to-face chat during which he committed to send you some documents, you can send him a message that says "bump on those materials" as a kind reminder.
Etiquette of Bumping
If you're considering bumping your post on a social media platform like Facebook, we advise against it. Bumping is not only ineffective due to the default sorting mechanisms on most websites, but it can also appear unpleasant and needy to many users. Some people may skip postings that have a lot of bumps and irrelevant remarks.
It's totally appropriate to remind your friend about an event invitation or some documents they need to complete. However, you should generally avoid using this in professional e-mails because messages like "Bumping this up to the top of your inbox" will irritate certain individuals. Instead, statements like "I'd like to follow up on this" or "I simply wanted to check in" might be used to accomplish the same goal.