Derived from the idea of tweeting without “@-ing” someone in a malicious way. Subtweeting first came into existence circa my freshman year of high school. For me, freshman year was a slew of One Direction fan pages and Harry Styles memes. I spent 90 percent of everyday either trying to get a 1D follow on Twitter or crying over concert videos. Honestly, I hit the daily tweet limit of 2,400 more than a few times. The One Direction Twitter mania is a phase I'm not ashamed of, but I could definitely go the rest of my life without speaking about it.
During this, I was introduced to the infamous and rather imbecile art of subtweeting. It’s an art, really, because it takes skill to find the perfect way to call someone out while only subtly referencing a certain wrongdoing. It started with Twitter (hence “subtweet”) when white girls everywhere would tweet about other white girls they didn’t like by speaking about something they’ve done without actually mentioning their name. For example, Becky wore her sunglasses all the way to class after going out to lunch on a sunny day. The result? “OMG, why do people think it’s OK to wear sunglasses inside,” or, “OMG, it’s not sunny inside sweetheart.”
This led to the long-awaited comeback of “@ me next time.” Those who have been subtweeted were no longer standing around taking the blow; they were coming back with the aforementioned remarks. But eventually, after my freshman year and the cessation of my One Direction account, the Twitter fad died down. This only expanded the platform for subtweeting. Facebook and Instagram users now succumbed to the “art.” Subtweeting became the mantra of Instagram bios everywhere. For example, Becky posts a photo with her friends featuring a glamorous can of Bud Light. Afterwards, white girls post a mocking photo captioned, “OMG, do you drink?”
Girls aren’t the only ones guilty of subtweeting. Guys, on the other hand, tend to subtweet in a different nature. For a guy, subtweeting serves the sole purpose of subtly complaining about current events, often in as few as two words. If a guy heard something that he disagrees with on the news, for example, then he may later post a Facebook status somewhere along the lines of, “Our country is falling apart,” in response to a political convention. Although not directly jabbing someone, it doesn’t take much to figure out the context.
None of this is to say that everyone out there finds the need to indirectly throw shade at someone else online. And if you want my honest opinion, subtweeting is utterly pointless and immature. But if we were all mature enough to rise above this, then what would amuse us on our aimless scrolls through social media?
