As the amount of time we spend online increases, the role engineers and designers have in defining the ways in which we can interact with our devices is becoming more and more important.

They exercise gatekeeping responsibilities, and define how we move across applications, but also the ways in which we will develop our relationships with objects, people and ideas.

However, each one of us experiences these gatekeeping decisions privately, as we interact with our phones.

These interactions, although central, are rarely discussed. Thus, we often lack the appropriate vocabulary to explain how these systems are interacting with us.

This dictionary of neologisms is focused on the subset of bad gatekeeping practices that undermine competition. It is meant to evolve over time, and you are most welcome to propose new terms through our suggestion box.