What is the difference between a retweet and a subtweet

Which backfired when she saw it. Subtweeting someone while identifying them by name usually happens if: in this case, you are talking about a public figure in a not-really-offensive tweet; making a general observation, but not needing to specifically address them; or if a celebrity has a twitter handle that bears no relation to their name and you want people to know who you are talking about.

Russell Brand , for instance, whose Twitter handle is rustyrockets. In this sense, the subtweet is the Twitter-born cousin of vaguebooking.

Vaguebooking statuses often end in either ellipses or emoticons, though vaguebooking is slightly different to subtweeting, which always has to be about a person. Someone wants to criticize a person with the username JohnDoe on Twitter but without that person seeing the tweet in their Twitter timeline.

In each case the symbol is missing so the tweet would not appear in JohnDoe 's Twitter timeline. Indirectly tweeting something about someone without mentioning their name. You see my latest pinned tweet and it sparks something in you so that you feel compelled to share a reply with me.

When you click this, a box will pop up where you can write your reply. Replying to someone this way sends the message directly to that person. Only direct messages are private conversations between you and other Twitter users. Sending a quick reply is a great way to keep the conversation going or to simply say thanks to someone who shared your work.

In the tweet above, I thanked Nicky for listening to my podcast and sharing the episode with her audience. Sometimes, you might want to draw more attention to the replies you send to someone. Subtweet spread in the s, when publications ranging from BuzzFeed to The Guardian widely noted both the term and phenomenon. Around , as noted in publications from The Washington Post to Teen Vogue , internet culture began to look down on subtweeting due to its passive-aggressive nature—not to mention the confusion subtweets can cause without a clear reference, leading some to mistake themselves as its subject.

A subtweet can be used as a noun e. I saw that subtweet about your ex and verb e.