Reply guy
{{Short description|Internet slang term}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
Reply guy is an internet slang term for someone who excessively responds to social media posts, often in an annoying, condescending, or overly familiar or flirtatious manner. Reply guys are often men, often with few followers of their own, and tend to respond to posts by celebrities, those with large follower bases, or women.{{Cite web |date=May 30, 2019 |title=What Is A Reply Guy? |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/reply-guy/ |access-date=January 7, 2024 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en-US |archive-date=July 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718133921/https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/reply-guy/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Black |first=Chris |date=May 14, 2020 |title=The Reply Guys Are More Online Than Ever |url=https://www.gq.com/story/coronavirus-reply-guys |access-date=January 7, 2024 |website=GQ |language=en-US |archive-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902110320/https://www.gq.com/story/coronavirus-reply-guys |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Gault |first=Matthew |date=2022-06-17 |title=The Reply Guy From Hell |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-reply-guy-from-hell/ |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=VICE |language=en-US}} The phenomenon has been called an example of benevolent sexism.{{cite news |last1=Al-Sibai |first1=Noor |title=Meet the 'reply guys': Obnoxious Twitter trolls try to challenge prominent women — and fail miserably |url=https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/meet-reply-guys-obnoxious-twitter-trolls-try-challenge-prominent-women-fail-miserably/ |access-date=January 7, 2024 |work=Raw Story |date=July 28, 2018 |archive-date=January 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108045142/https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/meet-reply-guys-obnoxious-twitter-trolls-try-challenge-prominent-women-fail-miserably/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Bryan |first1=Chloe |title=The curse of the Twitter reply guy |url=https://mashable.com/article/twitter-reply-guys |access-date=January 7, 2024 |work=Mashable |date=February 19, 2019 |archive-date=January 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108045142/https://mashable.com/article/twitter-reply-guys |url-status=live}}
Origins
The term reply guy has been used with less negative connotations at least as far back as 2012, when a social media manager for the Applebee's restaurant chain became known as "Applebee's Reply Guy" on Facebook for regularly responding to comments left on the page. By 2015, term shifted more toward referring to someone whose posts were perceived as annoying, rude, or as mansplaining.
Actions by social media platforms
In 2020, Twitter released a feature to allow users to limit who can reply to their tweets to only people who follow them, or to only people they mention in a tweet. This was described by Vox as motivated in part by a desire to reduce unpleasant interactions with reply guys.{{Cite web |last=Ghaffary |first=Shirin |date=August 11, 2020 |title=Twitter is finally helping people shut out "reply guys" |url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/8/11/21363584/twitter-harassment-limit-replies-feature-reply-guys |access-date=January 7, 2023 |website=Vox |language=en |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130064121/https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/8/11/21363584/twitter-harassment-limit-replies-feature-reply-guys |url-status=live }}
In 2023, the Mastodon social network released an experimental feature to display a reminder when users compose a response to a stranger, or to a post that is over three months old. This was described by TechCrunch as an attempt to "tackl[e] ... the scourge of the 'reply guys'".{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=November 22, 2023 |title=Mastodon tackles the problem of 'reply guys' with its latest feature |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/22/mastodon-tackles-the-problem-of-reply-guys-with-its-latest-feature/ |access-date=January 7, 2024 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US |archive-date=December 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223193207/https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/22/mastodon-tackles-the-problem-of-reply-guys-with-its-latest-feature/ |url-status=live }}
See also
References
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