The FBI apparently needs an 83-page manual to follow typical Twitter slang, the agency's "Twitter Shorthand" document becoming public this week.
Comprising "about 2,800 entries," the dictionary is a guide to online jargon, which is also known as "leetspeak," PCMag.com reported.
"With the advent of Twitter and other social media venues on the Internet, the use of shorthand and acronyms has expanded," said the dictionary, noting that the entries are thorough, "but far from exhaustive," according to PCMag.
The Twitter Shorthand manual came to light after Jason Smathers of the website MuckRock submitted a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to the FBI in January. He received a low-quality copy of the FBI's documents on leetspeak about five months after making the request and posted it to MuckRock this week.
The dictionary includes such examples as "::POOF::" (goodbye/leaving the room), "ALOTBSOL" (always look on the bright side of life), "GNSTDLTBBB" (good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite), and "WYLABOCTGWTR" (would you like a bowl of cream to go with that remark?), PCMag reported.
Another recent example of how the government tries to track social media is the Secret Service's open request for software that can detect sarcasm in tweets.
The Secret Service has requested a laundry list of specific tools that would help the agency follow social media trends and monitor Twitter, The Washington Post reported. Some of the tools that the Secret Service hopes to gain would let the agency pinpoint influential people in the social media landscape, examine data in real time and use heat maps.
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