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I am considering a social media account for updates that are personal, chatty, opinionated, and specific to my geographic location. That is to say, not career-oriented or professional.

I need a term that describes this idea. I will use it to qualify my normal account name. The term needs to be short (say 6 letters or less). I am drawn to 'hyperlocal' but it is too long.

I'm happy to entertain poetic ideas (e.g. 'garden', 'backyard', etc).

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closed as too localized by onomatomaniak, Ed Guiness, Mr. Shiny and New 安宇, Matt Эллен, simchona Dec 2 '11 at 18:18


I accept the verdict of 'too localized' but I invite comments on how I can rescue this question. –  Michael Easter Dec 5 '11 at 12:11

7 Answers 7

My preference would be "casual."

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Your criteria, though not inconsistent, will still be hard to collect all together in one short word. 'Local' will be particularly difficult to get with the others. Despite that, I can offer:

  • amateur: the primary direct antonym of professional
  • informal: immediately chatty, personal, opinionated.
  • relaxed: about the same as 'informal' in this context
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Point-taken, though I'm trying to capture the spirit rather than list the criteria. Thanks for the reply. You've given me some other ideas: 'casual' and 'bluejeans'/'jeans'. –  Michael Easter Dec 2 '11 at 13:25

"Personal", "Domestic" or "Downtime" spring to mind, although "home" might be best.

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I'd go for "hobbyist", "amateur", or "dabbler", maybe "beginner", as antonyms to "professional".

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Or "unprofessional" as a different class of antonym. –  Peter Taylor Dec 2 '11 at 15:07
@PeterTaylor I don't see Unprofessional as the antonym to professional. Unprofessional is someone who is expected to act professionally, but doesn't. A hobbyist/amateur is someone who doesn't act professionally, but you don't expect him to, either. –  Hackworth Dec 2 '11 at 15:18
Not the antonym, a antonym. Professional can be used in different ways: when used as a noun amateur and friends are the only antonyms I can think of, but when used as an adjective it could be in opposition to amateur, unprofessional, personal, perhaps others. –  Peter Taylor Dec 2 '11 at 17:09

Thinking way outside the box, something like from me just me my say homebase at home

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"Citizen" is clearly individual (as opposed to business), and does imply personal opinions. Citizens also form (local) communities.

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Jots, "brief and hurriedly written notes" might convey the informal or casual tone you want. Or perhaps ideas, notions, abuzz.

Appending a short word to your usual account name overly narrows what you can do. Starting with a blank slate would let you play off your name or location. Using neologisms would let you convey "personal, chatty, opinionated" by spelling or word choice (e.g. dreems, idees, thots). For "specific to my geographic location" criterion, use or misuse a regional name or let an account picture, slogan, or radar map communicate that bit.

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