What is POV? Parsing a trendy acronym with examples

Social networks have given us the opportunity to communicate and observe people from absolutely different parts of the world. Here we get acquainted with other people’s culture and its peculiarities. And among young people, it often happens that the slang of one language passes into another.

Surely you have not once noticed the captions to videos or pictures that begin with the mysterious word POV. What does it mean and why do young people use it? Let’s find out together with an expert.

Ph.D. in Philology, Associate Professor at the Lomonosov Moscow State University Graduate School of Business

“About 15 years ago, a strange abbreviation “IMHO” began to appear in comments and posts. It comes from the English word in my humble opinion. In translation – “in my humble opinion”. Today, this abbreviation remains only in the memory of those over 30. Younger audiences prefer POV.”

What does POV mean?

POV is an acronym for point of view. This abbreviation refers to a particular angle from which a story or video is presented. POV is most often used in social media where the user shares their point of view.

It is usually placed at the beginning of a video or meme description to immerse the viewer in the situation, create a sense of presence, and make the content more interactive and personal. It helps to better understand the character’s emotions. Today, such videos are especially appealing to young audiences.

Origin of the word

The abbreviation POV became widely used in the English language in the 1970s. The term was originally common in literature. POV is a situation in which the narrative is conducted in the first person, allowing the reader to see the world through the eyes of the protagonist. For example, this technique can be seen in Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita. In the work, the narration is conducted on behalf of Humbert Humbert. This is the POV.

From literature, the term has moved to the movie industry. Here POV refers to a style of filming in which the scene is shown through the eyes of the character. There are entire movies made using this technique. For example, The Blair Witch (1999). You see everything happening through the camera lens, as if you were in the woods of Maryland.

Later, POV became a key element of computer game design. It completely changed the past experience and the way we interact with the virtual world. In games such as Call of Duty, Doom, Half-Life, the person is as if in the body of the character. He sees everything through his eyes, and the process becomes more realistic.

Examples of use

Today, POV is one of the most popular abbreviations in youth slang. It even localized in Russian and turned into “pov”. Users often create short videos about different life situations with this hashtag.

Such videos are called “upvotes”. Their goal is to create an engaging effect and evoke an emotional response from the viewer. For example, a video with the title “POV: You’re on a date” tells about the author’s life. It can show awkward pauses, funny moments in communication.

The viewer should imagine himself in the shoes of the author of the video. Now “raises” have become a trend. They are filmed on many life situations to express their opinion.

Gradually, POV has become a meme format. Today you can often find just such videos. Their essence is to show everyday situations in which the viewer sees himself. For example, it can be stress at school, romantic relationships or failures in communication with parents.

POV is particularly appealing due to its ability to emphasize the comicality and irony of such life moments. This makes the content more appealing and memorable to the audience.

People are eager to share such videos because they not only make people laugh, but also create a sense of community. Everyone recognizes themselves or their friends in them. That is why “raises” quickly spread across the Web, becoming viral content.

In addition, this format allows you to be creative and original, coming up with new, unexpected angles on familiar situations.

POV is not only an abbreviation, but also a reflection of changes in cultural values of generations. Among today’s youth, it has become a way to emphasize themselves without coming into conflict with their surroundings.

IMHO” was once used with a certain modesty, emphasizing the subjectivity of opinion. The abbreviation helped the speaker to abstract himself from the rest of the community.

The case of POV, on the other hand, is quite different. It shows how young people use language to establish a common context of perception. In this way, they create a common space for life experience and self-expression.