Bragging, while trying to seem humble, is nothing new. But with the proliferation of self-promotion on social media, are we in a kind of humblebrag heyday? Derek Thompson of The Atlantic writes:
Across five studies, the researchers studied brags, complaints and humblebrags on social media and in job interview scenarios, and evaluated how people reacted to each statement. In short, people respected complaints, tolerated brags and disdained their intermixing. “The proliferation of humblebragging in social media and everyday life suggests that people believe it an effective self-promotional strategy,” they concluded. “Yet, our results show, people readily denigrate humblebraggers.”
Thompson joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson to discuss the humblebrag.
- Read Derek Thompson’s piece in The Atlantic, “How to Brag”
- Watch the trailer for the 2012 book “Humblebrag,” which explains the term
Guest
- Derek Thompson, senior editor at The Atlantic. He tweets @DKThomp.
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