Passive-aggressive friend being rude, immature on Twitter

Dear Annie: My best friend and I have been friends for more than 15 years, and we get along very well and definitely know each other better than anyone else. However, we are very different. I am a lot simpler than she is. I don't beat around the bush, she is passive-aggressive; I am on the quiet side, she likes to be heard. She has been complaining to me a lot about the drama in her life, and I don't mind. I am always there for her, whether it's to give my straightforward opinion or just to listen to her rambling on the phone in the middle of the night. When we are communicating openly, it's great. She is very active on Twitter, and I don't have an account. A few close mutual friends have been telling me she has been passive-aggressively tweeting about me in a negative way — and it's very obvious it's about me. I am always there for her, and I am open and honest when we communicate. But when I don't understand what I've done wrong, it's hard to grasp any understanding of what to fix. I would like to ask her what her deal is, but I don't know how to do so because I'm obviously pretty miffed that she is being so publicly passive-aggressive and I am offended. But I also don't want her to get upset with our other friends, because it will be obvious that they shared the information with me. I don't want there to be any unspoken issues between my best friend and me, but I don't know how to deal with this rude and immature behavior. — Anti-social Media Dear Anti-social: Rude and immature is right. Passive-aggressive behavior has always been exasperating. Social media have taken it to a new level. The best approach in dealing with such people is to refuse to play their game. Be positive but direct. Tell her you saw her Twitter page (no need to mention your friends told you) and were concerned by the tweets. Try to get her to admit that she's upset with you, thus denying her the ability to keep silently sulking. At the end of the day, she should respect you for holding her accountable. Friends don't let friends get away with passive-aggressive behavior.