MIA is an abbreviation of the phrase Missing In Action, it is most commonly used to refer to a person who cannot be reached or is missing. Even though MIA has its roots in the military, the meaning derived from the phrase has evolved over the years when it comes to social media.
Back in the military, MIA is a term that is officially used to indicate individuals or persons (s) who have gone missing or not reported back to the base. That would mean that the person has been absent from service and has reportedly not been Killed on the field yet.
With generations of texting culture evolving, MIA has shifted its use over to social media platforms. Apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook have seen a surge in this word’s popularity in the past few years.
In this article, I will briefly explain the usage, alternate meanings, and terms to help you understand these terms better on the internet.
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Alternative Meaning:
Miami International Airport
Mater of International Affairs
Message Express Internet
Medical Information Assistant
Memory Investigation Access
Malta International Airport
Made in Africa
Usage:
You already know that MIA has rooted its usage in multiple online forums and websites to refer to people who haven’t been seen during a certain period. However, this term is especially prevalent in the gaming community who always refers to people as MIA if they haven’t logged in for some time.
In real life as well, MIA is more frequently used to mention individuals that cannot be contacted or have seemingly disappeared without any reason. While in the special forces, it holds the same definition but is used to refer to people who have been missing from the battlefield and have not been reported KIA (Killed in Action).
MIA is rather neutral in tone and is more so an expressive phrase that is used to share information about another person’s status. To get you a better idea of its usage, here are some examples of how MIA is utilized in real life:
Examples:
Example 1
Person 1: Dude it’s been so long since I last played COD with XXX, do you know what has he been up to?
Person 2: No clue mate, XXX has been MIA since the update last month.
In this scenario, Person 1 is curious about the availability of another player XXX. He seemingly asks Person 2 but is met with a response that tells him that XXX has just disappeared without any context since the last update. Messages like these are quite frequent in the gaming community to communicate the status of other online players.
Example 2
Person 1: We’re hitting the beach tomorrow right, Is the usual gang tagging along?
Person 2: Except XXX who’s been MIA since last week, everyone else is coming.
In this instance, Person 2 uses MIA in the context that XXX has been out of touch with other people of their group. This means that no one knows the reason behind their sudden absence.
Alternative Words
Here are some alternative words that can be used:
N/A – Not Available
AFK – Away From Keyboard
BRT – Be Right There
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