A few years ago I happened across a meme that showed the five main characters from that great movie, ‘The Breakfast Club,’ and it likened them to various social media sites.
I believe that the best memes have the ability to condense complex issues into one humorous image that people ‘get’ in an instant, and this meme excelled in achieving that. The five markedly different characters are forced to spend a Saturday together in detention, and over the course of the film we get to know, and like, each of them.
Judd Nelson’s character
is ‘the Criminal’, an angry rebel who can be abrasive and cruel, but
also surprisingly kind and compassionate. He shares traits with 4Chan, a community that has been described as,“lunatic, juvenile... brilliant, ridiculous and alarming.” If you are not familiar with 4Chan, it is probably best keeping it that way.
Emilio Estevez, as ‘the Athlete’ is likened to Facebook. He
admits that he is unable to think for himself and that he is a
bully. These are traits that have sadly become more and more synonymous
with Facebook in the 3 years since the meme was originally published.
Ally Sheedy plays
‘the Basketcase’, a girl who is a fascinating, unfathomable, deeply
complex character, prone to eccentricity, introspection, and
fabrication. I’m not an expert on Tumblr, but this matches with the little that I do know about it.
Molly Ringwald is ‘the Princess’ or wannabe prom queen, who craves attention and popularity. She introduces herself by announcing, “Do you know how popular I am? I am so popular, everybody loves me so much at this school.” It
transpires that her battling parents are horrendously unpleasant and
that she wants to escape her reality by surrounding herself with love
and affection. That sounds like an allegory of Instagram.
Finally, Anthony Michael Hall plays
‘the Brain’, a serious nerd who is focused on achieving the best grades
that he can manage. He is a member of the math, physics, and Latin
club, and acquired a fake ID, not to buy alcohol or cigarettes, but to
gain the right to vote. He represents LinkedIn, although members of other sites such as Reddit and Quora have tried to claim him as their own.
Different platforms, different behaviours
The reason that I mention this is not to self-indulgently reminisce
about a classic movie, but to highlight how different social media
platforms have very different personalities, cultures, users, goals and
ways of conducting themselves. Members typically operate in a certain
way on different sites. However, I have been noticing an increasing
number of humblebrag posts on LinkedIn, which I would normally expect to see on Instagram or in the more tedious corners of Facebook.
For those who do not have English as a first language, let me allow to use Urban Dictionary to explain what a humblebrag is. They loosely describe it as when somebody consciously tries to get away with bragging about oneself by hiding behind an inauthentic show of humility. This
type of insincerity is not very pretty when seen on LinkedIn (least of
all to North-European eyes who I believe have a lower threshold to
it).
The increased number of humblebrag posts got me thinking about what I
considered the role of LinkedIn to be to me. I see it as a great
resource to connect, keep up to date with old colleagues, pick up
industry knowledge, explore career options, gain inspiration, have
exposure to new working practices, exchange and develop ideas, etc. It
is a business tool and it has lots of great uses. It is not Instagram,
or Facebook, and it is most definitely not 4Chan.
We all may have accidentally over-shared in a state of excitement
about winning a new client, or doing something cool (I'm sure I have),
and this article most definitely is not about that. Nor is this
anything to do with our profile pages, which by their very definition
are our best sides, hidden away, unless someone wants to check them
out. I am writing about the intentional and endemic ‘blowing of one’s
own trumpet’ on the main feed that wilfully crosses the boundary between
‘of interest to many’ and ‘self-promotion’ and just keeps on travelling
into the territory of cringe.
Why do we frown on humblebragging?
People who intentionally brag can be tiresome. They suck the joy
out of normal interactions and suffocate conversation. Their need to
brag often stems from insecurity, low self-esteem, a fear of abandonment, a lack of social-awareness or a need for aggression. So
perhaps we should pity them, rather than become irritated? Maybe, but
some form of irritation is a valid response to someone purposefully
attempting to elevate himself above us (and it tends to be a him in my
experience).
In the Nordics, they have a wonderful way-of-being which they call the ‘Law of Jante’. It
is an informal code of conduct that warns against being overtly
personally ambitious, and denigrates those who try to stand out as
individual achievers by bragging. Did you ever wonder why virtually all
of the Scandinavians that you meet are so likeable?
The humblebrag is a more considered and inauthentic form of brag
and receives greater opprobrium due to the deceit and manipulation
involved. A study has shown that humblebraggers are seen as less likeable, less competent and less likely to influence others. They are even seen in a dimmer light than the common-or-garden braggart.
Shouldn’t we just let this go and mind our own business?
I think this issue matters because these kinds of posts dilute the
great, inspiring, and helpful content that circulates on LinkedIn and
diminishes its utility. I also think it creates an arms race of
braggarts trying to outdo each other with more frequent and more inane
posts in an attempt to stand out.
The excellent LinkedIn Commentator Mike Winnet
has also noticed the rise of LinkedIn's humblebragging and is speaking
up about it. He thinks a backlash towards the humblebrag is on its way,
but warns of the looming threat of 'struggle porn' that may replace it –
tiresome posts by people claiming to have woken up earlier, worked
harder and endured more to succeed than you or I.
What do you think?
My favourite saying is that none of us are wiser than all of us, so
I would really value any feedback on these reflections and the
questions that I am left with.
- Are there informal ‘rules of behaviour’ on LinkedIn? If not should there be?
- Am I just being over-sensitive and should I pipe down about the humblebrag.
- Is one of LinkedIn’s roles to be a tool to fish for compliments and provide an ego massage when needed?
- Where is the line between tedious bragging and an interesting update?
- Is anyone aware of people who have been forced to post on LinkedIn by their employer?
