s break it down in simple words.
What is the Meaning of ‘K’ and ‘M’?
What is ‘K
The letter ‘K’ represents ‘kilo,’ the metric prefix for 1,000. From the Greek word ‘chilioi,’ meaning a thousand, ‘K’ is used ubiquitously to represent a thousand multiple of a quantity.
1K = 1,000 (one thousand)
10K = 10,000 (ten thousand)
100K = 100,000 (one hundred thousand)
Example:
When a video on YouTube received 5K views, it meant that the video views stood at 5,000.
When an Instagram post received 2K likes, it meant that the post had gotten 2,000 likes.
What Does ‘M’ Mean?
M is short for ‘million.’ The word ‘mille’ in Latin means a thousand, but here it’s multiplied by a million.
1M = 1 000 000 (one million)
10M = 10 000 000 (ten million)
Example:
A celebrity has 3M followers in Twitter. So, he has 3 000 000 followers.
15M likes on Facebook mean that the page has 15 000 000 likes
Why do we use ‘K’ and ‘M’?
For ease and understanding
Abbreviation with ‘K’ and ‘M’ makes big numbers easy to write and read especially when typed on smaller platforms. You no longer count zeros but get the magnitude at a glance.
Convenience: It’s faster to type as well as read 2K than 2,000.
Space-saving: Makes it possible to fit numbers into such tight spaces on screens or layouts.
Universal Understanding
These abbreviations are known and applied everywhere in the world across different languages, making ‘K’ and ‘M’ a universal digital language.
Besides Social Media Metrics: Other Fields That Use ‘K’ and ‘M’
Besides referring to social media metrics, you shall find ‘K’ and ‘M’ as used in the following fields:
Finance: “K” and “M” are used to represent thousands and millions of dollars, so a ‘$250K’ means $250,000.
Science and Technology: “K” and “M” are used to represent measurements in data sizes, like kilobytes (KB) and megabytes (MB).
Conversational English: People can claim that they have run 5K, which means 5 kilometers.
Summary Table
Abbreviation Numerical Value Verbal Expression
1K 1,000 One Thousand
10K 10,000 Ten Thousand
100K 100,000 One Hundred Thousand
1M 1,000,000 One Million
10M 10,000,000 Ten Million
100M 100,000,000 One Hundred Million
Examples in Social Media Applications
YouTube Subscriber: A video channel with 250K subscribers has 250,000 subscribers.
Twitter Follower: An account with 1.5M followers has 1,500,000 followers.
Facebook Like: A post with 8K reactions has received 8,000 reactions.
History of ‘K’ and ‘M’
‘Kilo’ (K): From Greek ‘chilioi’ meaning thousand. Relatively often used in the metric system (kilogram, kilometer).
‘Mega’ (M): From Greek ‘megas’ meaning great. Used in expressions such as megabyte.
Why Not Use ‘T’ for Thousand?
You may also wonder why ‘T’ is not used for thousand in the English word, given ‘thousand’ is also a word that starts with a ‘T’. The reason is that ‘K’, ‘kilo’, is the standard prefix of a thousand units in the metric system accepted throughout the world.
Conclusion
Learning these abbreviations will take your social media experience and others in general to a whole new level, bringing giant figures closer together. The next time you see ‘K’ or ‘M’ besides a number, know it’s shorthand for thousands and millions, respectively.