ATLANTA: When Rick Ross posted a photo of himself on Instagram posing with Diddy, a woman joked on his page about the burly, bearded rapper wearing shades inside a nightclub.

Ross noticed — and didn’t take kindly to it. In retaliation, he replied with an insult about the size of the woman’s nose.

He’s not alone in responding to unflattering comments with vitriol. From Rick Ross to Rihanna to the Kardashians, celebrities are going out of their way to “clap back” at regular folk who have the audacity to come for them on social media.

Clapping back is a way for someone to instantly gain the upper hand against an adversary who disrespected them, their family members or close friends. Most use social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram to fire back at someone (it’s not clear when the phrase originated or resurfaced. In 2003, Rapper Ja Rule released the song “Clap Back,” a diss track directed toward 50 Cent and Eminem).

Chris Brown is a repeat clap back offender. Nicki Minaj cursed out an Instagram troll who criticized the rapper’s supportive post of the N.W.A. biopic film “Straight Outta Compton.” Kim Kardashian pointed out the poor grammar of someone who came on her page to criticize her.

It’s become such a regular occurrence that gossip outlets like The Shade Room regularly highlight the best celebrity clap backs in separate social media posts.

The woman who was the butt of Rick Ross’ insult, Holly McKelvey, said she was surprised by Ross’ unflattering response to her joke, even though she saw a substantial increase of 1,400 followers after her spat with him.

“I was shocked,” said McKelvey, a Texas native. “That was odd to me. It’s not often that celebrities come to somebody’s page. But oh my God, it was insane. People were going to every single picture, any video I made, criticizing me ... it was the meanest stuff ever.”

Last year, Rihanna responded harshly when she was criticized for not donating enough to a cause.

“My Prada shoes that I spent nothing on cant stop anyone from dying!” Rihanna wrote in response. “However the $100,000 I just sent to the Philippines will! Now (explicit), begging for purses!”