How subtweets are ruining Twitter. Subtweets may seem like they empower the subtweeter; actually, the subtweet-ee wins. And online discourse loses - Most rational people understand that short messages, haphazardly inputted into a smartphone during a brisk walk or after a few tabs of Adderall, can be wildly misinterpreted. Yet Twitter, often described as a 24/7 cocktail party, is such an instantaneous and spontaneous way of communicating that it is often difficult to remember that your remarks about other people, which feel very private, are quite public. If you talk shit about someone, it is remarkably easy for the target of your vitriol to find the tweet and declare virtual pistols at dawn.

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/22/how_subtweets_are_ruining_twitter/