What Does POV Mean In Texting? (Explained!)

POV in texting means “point of view”. There are a few different ways you might use this, but in texting, it most likely means someone is telling you something from their perspective. “From my POV, he shouldn’t have been there in the first place!” for example. It’s like saying “in my opinion”, or something similar.

POV is a very specific term used in cinematography, too, which has since spread to texting and social media.

It used to refer primarily to a certain kind of camera shot—one that is intended to simulate seeing from someone or something’s eyes, their “point of view”.

Let’s find out more.

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What does POV stand for in texting?

POV stands for “point of view” in texting.

This usually means that someone is trying to get across their own view about something, how they feel about it, what it means, and perhaps what should be done.

At the same time, it could be used in a discussion about art or media. “I hated that film,” “From my POV, it wasn’t that bad!” for example.

It’s about contextualizing things as your own experience, and not trying to state them as objective facts.

It could also be used in a more personal and emotional context. It’s particularly used in complex interpersonal conflicts. “I know he doesn’t think it was that bad, but in my POV, it was a really terrible thing,” for example.

Again, it’s about expressing your own particular viewpoint and opinion.

It might have other meanings in texting, though.

It generally doesn’t have any other words that it stands for, but the meaning can be rather different. It could just refer to the cinematic technique of using cameras to mimic someone’s eye line, their literal, visual “point of view”.

“There was this great POV shot in the movie,” for example.

As we will see, this is the origin of this term, so it has had a heavy influence on the slang use of the term.

You could even simply use it to describe what you can physically see. “Are you here yet? I can’t see anything from this POV” for example.

So, it can have a variety of meanings—which one should be fairly clear from context, though.

So, where does this term come from?

Where does POV come from?

POV is, as I’ve said, an old cinematographic term. It has been used in cinema since its earliest days, where it meant that the viewers of the film were looking at things from the eyes of a character or something else in the movie.

This is a very common technique in cinema, and so there are many bits of jargon like this that are used to refer to specialized techniques.

Eventually, this term spread to all sorts of corners of the internet. It obviously was quite a useful term, and you might just have used it to describe a video you took as being from your own POV or anything like that.

The term POV is also used in philosophy, literature, painting, and other areas of art where you can give the illusion of being from someone’s point of view.

How might you respond if someone says this, then?

How do you respond to POV?

It really depends on the context. If someone says POV to you, they are probably, as I mentioned, trying to express that something is coming from their own opinion.

So, take it from there and try to see things from their POV, as they’ve said.

This will help you understand them better, and response should come quite naturally.

Other than that, it may just be that they’re sharing a joke or funny video with you—as this is now the prevailing meaning on social media.

What does POV mean on social media?

POV does still mean point of view on social media, for the most part. It’s gotten a great deal of use on TikTok, where its used a lot more liberally than its literal meaning.

Often, people will make a video depicting a certain humorous circumstance, and caption the video with “POV” then a description of what’s happening.

Even if the video is not from anyone’s actual POV, it is still used.

Many see this as a fundamental changing or even misunderstanding of the meaning of the word, as it was, in art and cinema, very specific in its meaning.

Does the term have any other meanings?

What else does POV mean?

There are other initialisms that POV can stand for, such as persistence of vision, pyramid of vision, or percentage of volume.

As you can see, these are quite specialized terms for particular fields of science and mathematics.

So, they probably don’t get a lot of use in texting!

You might say, though, that in modern parlance, “POV” simply means “Video”.

“POV you quit your job and go live in the forest”, for example, as a caption on a video of someone running through the forest.

That is not from anyone’s POV—it’s just a video that the caption describes.

So, POV has a rather specific meaning, though it has since expanded from what it originally meant.

It’s definitely a very useful abbreviation in texting, but has also taken on a different use in social media more generally.

Some would argue it’s even lost its original meaning in places like TikTok, and now just means “this is a video of what I’m describing,” rather than an actual POV.

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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