In the aesthetics community, many terms have been created in order to address the different kinds of activities taking place online. Included here are also terms used in "the real world" associated with design, fiction, and art history, as well as a brief explanation of many social media sites and their aesthetic cultures. This section will also include terms exclusive to our wiki and are unofficial; they were created for the sole purpose of making readers of the wiki be able to find things when these categorizations do not exist in the online community.
Communication Method/Method of Communication[]
This is a heading for some pages on the Aesthetic Wiki. It is the term used for how an aesthetic/community expresses an aesthetic, such as the types of internet posts, magazines, videos, marketing, etc. that are shared.
Genre Fiction[]
Genre fiction is a category of fictional works that fits into a specific literary genre. For more information, check out the Wikipedia page of the same name. Many literary genres have specific aesthetics because of the shared setting, which includes location, time period, different technologies/magics, character designs (which includes fashion), and common tropes.
Moodboard[]
A moodboard is a collection of images that conveys a certain mood and aesthetic through varied visual motifs and a color palette. It is both used in professional settings, such as in interior and fashion design, as well as in Internet Aesthetics. In the aesthetics community on social media, people make moodboards that communicate an aesthetic as a hobby, with the moodboard being shared around. For the different types of moodboards, see here.
Pinterest Board[]
A Pinterest board is a collection of images a user of Pinterest creates. The app and website allows users to save images to a “board,” which is a folder that can be themed after various things, such as sewing tutorials, recipes, fan art, etc. In the aesthetic community, these Pinterest boards are themed after an aesthetic, such as one that can be found on our wiki or a more personalized board that does not exactly match up with one of our pages. These boards function as large moodboards, and can help other users know what an aesthetic looks like and find images themed after certain aesthetics easily.
TikTok[]
TikTok is an app dedicated to short-form videos. It is incredibly popular with Gen Z, and because of that, many aesthetic communities gather on there and communicate different aesthetics or try on new ones. There are various types of aesthetic-themed TikToks, such as outfit try-ons, moodboards in video form, vlogs themed around an aesthetic, shopping recommendations, and many more.
Trope[]
Trope, when used in the context of the wiki, refers to the use by TVTropes and cinematography, where, "a universally identified image imbued with several layers of contextual meaning creating a new visual metaphor"[1] is included in a work of fiction. Like genre fiction, a trope is not inherently an aesthetic. In the context of this wiki, "trope" typically refers to a setting or a stock character, which are types of tropes that may have very identifiable and consistent visual designs.
Tumblr[]
Tumblr is a social media site wherein people can "reblog" posts and put posts made by other users onto their blog, with the OP still intact. This site is what started Internet Aesthetics, as many amateur photographers, fashion bloggers, and photos taken from more professional websites are posted on there, with people reblogging different posts to make their blog explore and reflect their aesthetic. It is also popular because it allows users to customize the graphic interface of their own blog. In the aesthetics community, this site is highly influential, with many of the most iconic internet aesthetics getting their start on there.
Visuals[]
The wiki uses this term to describe every image involved in an aesthetic. This can include photos or artworks of objects, people posing, nature, architecture, clothing, etc.