How you choose to share personal achievements on social media says more about you than you think. Caution: you may not always create the impression you were hoping for…
Suppose you have achieved the most prestigious award available in your line of work. How would you share the news on social media?
(a) Not at all.
(b) Drowning in interview requests since I won that Oscar. Sorry if I’m slow getting back to you – just can’t keep up with them all!
(c) Still can’t believe they gave me an Oscar. What were they thinking?
(d) I WON AN OSCAR!
(e) Can’t keep up! Stressed out!
If you said (a), congratulations on your self-restraint – a rarity these days. If you said (b) or (c), then you are officially a “humblebragger”; someone who tries to tone down their bragging with a dose of either (b) complaining or (c) humility. If you said (d), you are just a straightforward bragger; if you said (e), a straightforward complainer.
A recent Harvard Business School study found that both (b) complaint-based and (c) humility-based humblebrags were less effective than (d) straightforward brags or even (e) straightforward complaints. Both types of humblebragger were rated as less likeable than straightforward braggers or complainers. Also, (b) complaint-based humblebrags (the most common type) were rated as worst of all. So if you’ve achieved something great and you just can’t keep it in, don’t humblebrag, just brag – maybe because it’s more honest, it’s more likeable, too.
A fully referenced version of this article is at benambridge.com. Order Are You Smarter Than a Chimpanzee? by Ben Ambridge for £11.04 at bookshop.theguardian.com
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