Power ranking responses to NBA Power Rankings

7. Subtweet the writer

I get it. Sometimes there’s a compulsion to get some dunks off. It’s engaging. It can get people going. Maybe someone will laugh with you, and you can share a moment of community with the people around you. That feels nice and important and good.

That’s fleeting though. Dunks come and go. Do you remember your last dunk? Does anyone? Well, maybe. Some people are good dunkers. Social media lends itself to this kind of thing. It’s kind of a shame, but tools can be used for things other than their intended purpose.

The best case scenario is you get some retweets and engagement with people who know what you’re referring to and agree. You high-five metaphorically and rally around the idea that your collective wisdom wins. And maybe you guys are right! Maybe the article actually is kind of bad, and its functional purpose boils down to “thing to point and laugh at.” It’s sad, but it happens.

But it’s nice to think that things can get better. If there is criticism to offer, it usually isn’t best received in subtweet form. It’s a little passive-aggressive.

And the criticism may never reach the author. Generally, people like to improve at what they do. If someone is writing, there’s a pretty good chance they want to be good at it. They may not want to be famous or prolific, but they probably want to put good work out into the world.

Ideally, that would make the dunks unnecessary. There are better ways to go than jabbing at a ghost of someone who may not get a chance to respond.