Absurdity is in vogue. Rounding the bend toward two years of pandemic life is enough to convince a small but not insignificant number of people that, oh, say, an anti-parasitic drug is a reasonable thing to start ingesting at one’s own discretion. The misguided run on ivermectin as a Covid cure-all comes with real consequences. The Seattle Times recently reported that poison control calls have tripled in Washington state, corresponding with a drastic rise in ivermectin prescriptions across the country.

Still, this has not stopped social media from making jokes. On the morning of August 30, the City of Kent’s Twitter account got in on the fun, first tweeting:

good morning! are you a horse?

no?

then please don't treat yourself with horse dewormer paste #ivermectin #COVID19

— City of Kent (@CityofKent) August 30, 2021

Apparently not satisfied with just this one dig, the account tweeted about it again later that morning, repeating “you are not a horse” 12 times.

idk who needs to hear this but...
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
you are not a horse
🚫🐴

— City of Kent (@CityofKent) August 30, 2021

That the Twitter account for one of the state’s largest cities (and one of the country’s fastest growing metros) would comment with such snark came as no surprise to those who’ve followed it in recent years. Its spats with neighboring cities have more than once inspired WTFs and burn emojis in Seattle Met Slack channels. Last February, the city decided to mock Tacoma for having a certain, er, aroma. The tweet prompted this dis from @CityofTacoma:

I'm sorry, who are you? https://t.co/MLz3ACQzli

— City of Tacoma (@CityofTacoma) February 9, 2021

More recently, @CityofKent prodded Auburn.

did it hurt? when you found out you live in @auburn_wa ?

— City of Kent (@CityofKent) September 1, 2021

Social media turf wars are hardly the account’s only memorable missives. Take this response to a reply guy:

ur a boneless chicken where's ur profile picture smh. check yourself douglas. https://t.co/ztDKOrbeLC

— City of Kent (@CityofKent) June 14, 2021

The original tweet was typical of its often diaristic approach.

anyone know if the #amc at @KentStation sells chicken tendies? asking for a friend

— City of Kent (@CityofKent) June 14, 2021

In a different era, these messages may have been viewed as “unprofessional.” But the rules of engagement have changed, as more and more government accounts fight for impressions using memes and text message shorthand. With that approach comes some cringe:

Nice. 🥵 pic.twitter.com/LbYWElPgsL

— City of Kent (@CityofKent) June 25, 2021

Regardless of what you think of @CityofKent, at least we know they have a solid editorial review process in place:

me to coworker: "hey what do you think of this tweet"
coworker: "thats so dumb who wrote that"
me: "hAha I dOnT kNoW" *backspace*

— City of Kent (@CityofKent) July 20, 2021