By now, you must have heard about it…and it’s pretty much on par with taking a selfie.
It’s also now official; humblebrag was recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
For those still in the dark, Virgin Mobile’s humblebragging expert, eTalk’s Jessi Cruickshank, laid it out for us this morning…
By Jessi’s personal definition, a humblebrag is “An online post where you tell everyone how awesome you are, how gorgeous you look, or how amazing your life is, but you veil it with some faux modesty and hide it with a self-deprecating twist.The classic humblebrag would be something like ‘Why is it that when I’m not wearing any makeup I get hit on the most?’, followed by hashtag #awkward. Or, the ‘I just woke up like this’ selfie.”
Sound familiar?
According to Jessi, the worst culprits are some of Hollywood’s finest…
“I don’t think they realize they live in a world that isn’t normal, so when they Tweet things like ‘I’m just getting so sweaty on this red carpet,’ it’s like, I feel so sorry for you that you’re sweating through your Oscar de la Renta gown,” she says.
“Taylor Swift is the endless queen of the humblebrag. Even when she accepts an award, she manages to slip humblebrags in. It’s not just online. I’ve interviewed her many times because she won’t stop winning awards. She’s really good at hiding behind the fans with the whole ‘Oh, I’m just a regular girl’ thing, but will drop things in an interview, like ‘I just can’t believe I sold 8-million albums in one week; I am so in shock. And I am also shocked I won all these awards.’ She reminds you on the regular of her wins, but as Taylor Swift, you don’t really have to do.”
Case in point:
“That moment when your cat casually walks up, then abruptly ATTACKS your custom satin Oscar del la Renta gown during your fitting for Met Ball.”
– Taylor Swift.
“Just won the GQ style award in Germany. Obviously, they made a mistake. I wonder how long till they come take it back. 😉 #andthewinnerisWHOOPS!”
– Jared Leto
“Mother of God. Tornado coming. Hide in my wine cellar or my theatre? Or my gym?”
– Kings of Leon’s Jared Followill
As Jessi points out, Sunday’s Golden Globes were no exception:
“Chrissy Tegan – who was there with John Legend – is a huge humblegragger. When you’re a supermodel and you’re always posting things about how you don’t look amazing, or how ‘It took sooo many people to make me look this good’. I’m like, no, it didn’t – you’re a supermodel. She posted a lot of those.”
“Selena Gomez posted a picture saying something like ‘Wow, this is crazy, super weird,’ and it’s a shot of her with Lorde and Taylor Swift and all of the famous people. It’s not weird, just own it.”
But regular Canadians are also guilty of the humblebrag:
Virgin Mobile Canada teamed up with Vision Critical to survey more than 1,000 Canadians to hear their thoughts on the humblebrag.
Top Stats:
– 75% of Canadians say they rarely brag, nearly half (44%) admit to humblebragging.
– More than 1/3 Canadians who have humblebragged (38%) don’t even realizing they’re doing it.
– 60% of Canadians opt to humblebrag when sharing an accomplishment in their life because they want to avoid sounding boastful.
– The majority feel it’s better to hold the humble and straight up brag.
– According to 59% of those surveyed, the worst humblebrags are those where people claim to look bad when they know they don’t.
– 65% per cent of Canadians believe humblebrag is the new “selfie.”
– Canadians believe that half of all humblebrags are about someone’s appearance, followed by materialistic items, and then locations.
– 74% of Canadians who humblebrag do it in person and 21% on Facebook. However, most people (64%) say they see it most on Facebook.
– While men and women humblebrag equally, women are more likely to humblebrag about their appearance.
Jessi’s Tips:
“There’s the humblebraggers, then there’s the Kim Kardashians of the world, who just straight up put it out there. I have to agree with the 61% of Canadians, who prefer you just come out and brag, which is weird because we are generally humble people,” she says.
1. Don’t go overboard and overload your feeds with selfies that question your beauty – that’s obnoxious. But being pumped about a new job opportunity or wedding proposal is totally ‘like’-able. Balance your brags and ensure they are only a small portion of what you share.
2. Stop mistaking pride for bragging. Being proud about something isn’t the same thing as rubbing your new shoes or front row seats into everyone’s feeds.
3. Make it funny. Humour diffuses anything. If you can find a way to share while cracking a joke, it will make your followers laugh instead of unfollow.
4. Do away with the #humblebrag hashtag. It still doesn’t make your boast acceptable. So skip the hashtag, and let your post speak for itself.
5. Haters gonna hate no matter what. It’s pretty easy to take a shot at someone who has put himself or herself out there. While not everyone will love your post-worthy moments, remember that you do. Stand by your accomplishments and don’t take the negativity to heart.
#NOTABLE
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