as someone who does that fairly regularly i would say mentioning someone's name but not using their handle is more of a talking-shit-behind-the-back tweet and not a subtweet

wait come to think of it shani is that why you added me to this branch

shit i just got subbranched

These are both considered subtweets, but there's a difference. If I say "Hillary Reinsberg left her dirty coffee cup on the counter, what a jerk," but I don't say @hreins, that's a subtweet. But it's also a subtweet if I say "hey jerk don't leave your coffee cups on the counter."

I think there's also a big difference in instance #1 follows you. Hillary, you would probably notice if I tweeted your name even if I didn't say your handle, because you follow me.

The rules for celebrity subtweets are also vastly different, I think.

[For the record, Hillary has a pristine record in placing her coffee cup in the sink]

I think using someone's name but not their handle is ~generally~ despicable unless the following conditions apply: 1) you don't know them IRL 2) they don't follow you AND 3) they have more than 3,000 followers. Otherwise it's just shit talking (see Langer, Matt).

But is it subtweeting? Yes, if they follow you.

subtweets are funny 100% of the time

I suppose I agree that if you say the person's name without a handle, you have to call it a subtweet, but that's because there's no better word for it. I think we need a better word. Any ideas?

consider this tweet by gawker's malcolm read. not really a subtweet.

Yes, the intention of a subtweet has to be somewhat mean.

when you subtweet someone who follows you i think it's usually a sign of affection

OH and there's a whole 'nother level for what Shani just did - purposely mispelling someone's name in case they "name search" themselves. Like if I say "Sh*ni Hilton really steams my clams." CLASSIC subtweet.

On another note, I looked up subtweeting on Urban Dictionary, where I came across the following:

Subaru
Derived from car model, Subaru is a reference by Kenyans On Twitter (KOT) meaning Subtweeting. Basically if you intend to direct a tweet to a specific individual without mentioning their names, you "Subaru" them.
This is a subaru, You have a half nude avi and yet you tweet religious tweets.

On yet another note, Katie, I always put my coffee cup in the dishwasher and I actually might now subtweet about some people who DON'T.

one annoying new kind of subtweet is when you tweet a link to someone else's tweet with v little commentary.

I am dubious of this urban dictionary listing.

Oooooh Shani you're right. The sublinktweet!

There's another Weird Thing that people do that's sort of the opposite of a subtweet, which is to make some argument and stick someone's handle at the end of the tweet (instead of doing it as a reply), forcing their followers to have to click through to see what the argument was even about.

i.e. "Some people don't understand subtweeting. @shani_o"

Write some funnier subtweets, jerk.

is it still a subtweet when you link to a tweet in a tweet with commentary?

Re: what Katie is talking about above, adding multiple people to tweets over a series of tweets (which REALLY annoys SOME people <-- subtweet) is what I believe is called a Twitter Canoe. I believe this was coined by Lindsey Weber but have not researched it.

hahahahaha GREAT subbranch lj

I've seen a lot of the Weird Thing Katie is talking about, but on Facebook and Instagram where you call someone's attention to a post on another page or someone's account because you think it's of interest to them. It makes more sense when it's like "Hacking your Sodastream" and less sense when it's like "Let me call your attention to the verdict in the Steubenville rape."

Thanks Langer

the WORST is when someone is all "Actually, @michaelroston, your Tower of News tweets are total shit" and forces their followers to pay attention to a dumb argument.

Being a mere passenger in a Twitter Canoe has gotten me blocked on Twitter by ~someone~

ok so one of my things is that like i never want to look like one of those ppl who includes @-replies to ppl who are like way out of my twitter league or whatever, so i'll more often than not plain text their name, not bc i'm trying to subtweet but just bc i don't want to look like i'm starfucking

But no one ever tweets that Shani.

Yeah, Twitter Canoes are either wildly hilarious or very upsetting. No middle ground.

or not starfucking per se you know what i mean like i dont presume to be on the same level as someone with a billion followers, i'm just some hater

Another question: is it subtweeting if you tweet about a weird person in the doctor's office or on an airplane? i.e. someone who may or may not be on Twitter/whose online presence you are not familiar with

That's call passive aggression and I've got it as a line on my resume under "skills"

My rule is don't ever, ever use an at-reply in a tweet, because it means that you want to get in an argument with someone, and wanting is the same thing as caring, and caring is the worst internet sin.

The one exception is a direct reply to someone's tweet, but you can't ever, EVER put the period in front of the at-reply so that all your followers can see the argument, because, again, that's Caring.

Okay, so how do you respond to a subtweet?

I am patenting a new method called "intimifaving" which is when you fave someone's subtweet of you to let them know you're watching.

Hillary: it is not a subtweet if it's a person IRL. That is just subIRLing.

You copy and paste a link to the subtweet in a tweet of your own and add "lol."

I agree with Max about the .@ which is the Opposite of Subtweeting. Bad form almost always.

repeatedly @ replying a slightly off twitter handle (ie jhermann) yup yeah that's a funny joke

Did Laura June just subtweet me IN this Branch? Either way, I'm here now.

What do we call nonconsenual gif canoes? twitter.com

Also: subtweets are fundamentally dishonest and give your posts an annoying POSE but that's ok because Twitter is fundamentally dishonest and tweets are always pointed and declamatory

(just email each other. no such thing as a subemail, that's just talking behind someone's back)

I don't understand what's wrong with subtweeting? I like talking shit about people in public when I have no further purpose to serve; sometimes no conversation is needed. It's even more fun when someone does it to you and you bust them. (I busted Chris Jones talking smack about me once, it was actually really great for all of us involved.)

Choire I suspect you sub-fav

Is subtweeting related to hate-retweeting.

Can someone bring in @hermit_thrush for this one?

re: Hillary's initial question: I think mentioning a person's name TENDS to be more associated with an affectionate subtweet vs. a true hate subtweet or shall we say SNUBtweet.

I feel like hate-retweeting is more aggressive than subtweeting. Like, subtweeting is a passive-aggressive action, with the chance that it won't be noticed by the target of the subtweet, while hate-retweeting is aggressive-aggressive and pretty likely to be noticed by whoever you retweet unless they have a significant amount of followers

Hate-retweeting anyone aside from a very silly celebrity is very mean.

This morning I retweeted Kim Kardashian and people thought I was being mean but I wasn't.

guys shut it down we've been subawled

wait how is hate-retweeting mean? what about hate-retweeting people who are like "@[your name] ur fucking dumb" that's the original hate retweet imo

good tweet.

Guys who forgot to invite Balk

theawl.com

perfect illustration of the intoxicating danger of the Ｓ Ｕ Ｂ Ｔ Ｗ Ｅ Ｅ Ｔ

I'd like to go back to the days when we all just talked behind each others' backs instead of out in the open on Twitter. Being the object of a subtweet is no fun, noticing it is even worse.

it's not a subtweet unless the person you're mentioning has a twitter presence you are aware of. here's a classic hermit thrush subtweet: twitter.com

Can you subtweet an event? I don't use official hashtags (#oscars, etc.) but I will tweet while the event is happening and just assume people will get it.

I think the point of a subtweet is to hurt, if only in a joking way. And I don't think an event has feelings.

I want to be able to say honest, occasionally unflattering things about pieces of writing on the internet without it becoming some exhausting Twitter feud. Do I need to start a Tumblr for that?