I’ve been on social media long enough to have accumulated a few pet peeves about how people interact online.

Here’s one: the phrase “do better.”

Much like its cousin “wake up”, “do better” signals a smug self-satisfaction that will justifiably be met with defensiveness by the accused and therefore a very low chance they will actually seek to “do better” (whatever that even means).

So if you actually want someone you disagree with to change their thinking or behavior, you’ll have to do better than “do better.”