For those not versed in Twitter lingo, a "ratio" occurs when very few people retweet or like a tweet, compared to a far larger number of people who quote-tweet or respond to the tweet. It's generally a good barometer for how much Twitter agrees or disagrees with a sentiment. The higher the ratio, the more people are mocking, rather than sharing, a take.
But for too long we Twitteratti have lacked a precise unit of measurement for just how bad a tweet is. Which is why I bring you the Ioffe, measured as the number of mentions divided the number of retweets. The namesake of this new unit is of course GQ correspondent Julia Ioffe, famed for racking up a series of very bad ratios in the span of a few days this October.
To demonstrate why Ioffe deserves such a dubious distinction, here are a few of her most famous takes, complete with the ratio at the time of publication.
"Don't wish me Merry Christmas"
265 RTs, 5.4K mentions. 20.4 Ioffes. The impetus for this piece, in which Ioffe (who's Jewish) demands holiday well-wishers stop wishing her a "Merry Christmas."
People, please stop wishing me a merry Christmas. It’s wonderful if you celebrate it, but I don’t and I don’t feel like explaining that to you either.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 20, 2018
The Christmas double-down
15 RTs and 122 mentions, 13 RTs and 232 mentions, and 17 RTs and 175 mentions. 10.2, 17.8, and 10.3 Ioffes.
The replies to my Christmas tweet are the religious version of "you should smile more."
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 20, 2018
(For the record, I always say "Thank you. You, too." But the omnipresence of Christmas for a whole month is deeply wearying and alienating to some of us who do not celebrate. If you want me respect you, please respect me, too.)
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 20, 2018
Also, I find the assumption that someone could only not be made merry by Christmas because they are a bad, angry, or unhappy person deeply...interesting.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 20, 2018
The ISIS apology/non-apology
396 RTs, 3.1K mentions and 641 RTs, 2.1K mentions. 7.8 and 3.2 Ioffes. In a CNN appearance following the Pittsburgh synagogue terror attack, Ioffe told host Jake Tapper that "This president has radicalized so many more people than ISIS ever did." Ioffe then apologized on Twitter, only to immediately make it clear she wasn't sorry.
I clarified and apologized on air, but I’ll say it again here. This has been a very emotional and painful time, but I absolutely should not have gone with such hyperbole on the air. I apologize.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 29, 2018
I will add, though, that it is not a coincidence that the number of anti-Semitic attacks has jumped nearly 60% in 2017—the biggest one-year increase in recent history—while this administration has systematically pulled back resources from countering domestic extremism.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 29, 2018
Trump-supporting Jews are responsible for the synagogue shooting
4751 RTs and 10K mentions, and two RTs and 48 mentions. 2.1 and 24 Ioffes.
And a word to my fellow American Jews: This president makes this possible. Here. Where you live. I hope the embassy move over there, where you don’t live was worth it.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 27, 2018
Was supporting an anti-Semitic man for president, someone who emboldened and played footsie with the alt-right, a reasonable trade for his allegedly pro-Israel policies.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 28, 2018
The MS-13 tweet
85 RTs and 1.6K mentions. 18.8 Ioffes. In which Ioffe accused Trump of using MS-13 as a bogeyman.
I guess now that Trump defeated ISIS he needs a new group to scare his constituents with: MS-13.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) June 22, 2018
The U.S. feels "less safe" than Russia for a journalist
4823 RTs and 6.1K mentions. 1.3 Ioffes. (Alright, this one wasn't badly ratio'ed. But it should have been, damn it.)
I have to say, I feel less safe as a journalist in America these days than I ever did in Russia. A lot less safe.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 29, 2018
The Ivanka Tweet
Ioffe was fired from POLITICO for a tweet implying Donald Trump was sleeping with his daughter Ivanka. Alas, the tweet was deleted, so we have no way of knowing what the ratio was. But her apology tweets (sent after doubling down) received 202 Rts and 3.1K mentions and 95 Rts and 881 mentions, registering at 15.3 and 9.3 Ioffes respectively.
All that said, I do regret my phrasing and apologize for it. It was a crass joke that I genuinely regret.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016
It was a tasteless, offensive tweet that I regret and have deleted. I am truly and deeply sorry. It won't happen again.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016
Did I miss a good one? Shoot me an email at griswold@freebeacon.com and I'll update the piece when I feel like it*.
*I'll probably never feel like it.