I’m eradicating the Hashtag #HumbleBrag. It’s run it’s course. It’s extinct.
The other day I got really confused watching someone on my social media use the hashtag #humblebrag to announce a success of theirs. They are usually very proud and announce good things in their life so I was confused about using #humblebrag. The last time I saw that hashtag used was when I used to participate in #fitblogchat once a week. We used this term at the end of the chat to announce something good in our lives. That chat hasn’t happened in a few years I believe.
So I decided to start a conversation on social media about the purpose of calling a success a brag and labelling it a “humble brag”. In our social media circles we love to share our success to the world. We (myself included) have developed a habit of sharing our success to be proud of it ourselves, to inspire others and cheer each other on.
So I posted the below quote image I found on Pinterest to my Instagram & Facebook teams and asked the following questions…
- What is our true purpose in sharing the humble brag?
- Can we work quietly and let our success just shine through authentically?
- When do you cross the line on being proud of something and genuinely wanting to share vs. bragging?
I love the conversation it inspired and the responses I got from my tribe. But first here is the definition of a humble brag to get everyone on the same page.
Here are a few comments from my peeps that really spoke to me. My friend Krysten brought up a good point that the term tends to be used by those who are uncomfortable to share their success.
I kinda, sorta got all bossy and challenged her to kill the hashtag because she should be proud and not hide them behind a hashtag. Then my friends, Jaime & Jay brought up a good points about killing the hashtag too that resonated with me.
Now I know my social media tribe is a bunch of Alpha Females and Males that are go-getters and ambitious individuals. It was easy for them to embrace the idea of killing the hashtag because it does nothing for us. Veiling our success doesn’t it make it less successful or more humble. We can live a life of sincere intent, of sincere excitement. We should just keep ourselves in check on why we are posting and if it’s for validation instead of pure excitement then we need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves. If we are simply proud and excited then share the heck away!
Let’s lift each other up, share our joy and spread that joy. Question our motives ourselves but be proud and embrace that proudness. So in conclusion I, a one-woman show, am banning the term humble brag from here on in. If you use the hashtag #humblebrag I will ask Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to shut you down until you proudly announce the heck out of your accomplishment no matter how big or small. I’m getting down with my bossy self 🙂
