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So an admin at a university (probably a person who should be sensitive to PR) should have said "You #$&*^$ #^#%&%$#$@, stop doing this already!" to make it look like a true "snap"?

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Yes, he'd have to do something very uncharacteristic of the position, otherwise it's an entirely appropriate and reasonable reaction, which isn't really what one would characterize a "snap".

I think I am coming from the perspective that incessant trolling forced them to issue an official response and that's "snap enough" for me.

You seem to be coming from the point of view (that's my assumption based on our short comments; it maybe something else) that it doesn't meet the literal dictionary meaning so it's not a snap - which I disagree with.

I think that's all to it.

It's not only that it doesn't mean the dictionary definition. There's no usage - colloquial or otherwise - of that term I'm familiar that fits the situation.

It's disingenuous at best to refer to the response as "snapping".

Possibly, I think "snap" is there purely for clickbait reasons, to imply a much larger reaction so we click through. "Responds" would have been more accurate, though not as converty.

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