Some members of my Facebook circle have a bad habit of writing really braggy status posts, along the lines of: "Just won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Now off to LA to continue my win-streak on Jeopardy. Plus, still training for the Boston Marathon. And, I found $20 in my jeans pocket."
Posts like these always leave me feeling stressed-out and inadequate. Hearing that you just got a perfect score on the GRE / bought a vacation house in Malibu / were promoted to CFO of Coca-Cola makes my daily accomplishments (unloading the dishwasher, getting Matt to hang up his wet towel, eating one ice cream sandwich instead of two) feel really crummy.
And that's not to say that I'm not guilty of this too. I've had an accomplishment or two in my day, and I often feel compelled to rush off to Facebook to update the masses on my success. This is normal...Facebook allows up to remain in contact with a huge social circle, and it's only natural to want your third cousin and your high school frenemy to realize how well you're doing.
Nonetheless, there is a fine line between pride + excitement in one's accomplishments and boastfulness.
Facebook, unfortunately, is boasting-central. Like I said, I'm guilty, too. After graduating from medical school, I posted the status: "It's Dr. JLlo from now on." I would never had said that to someone's face; it's obnoxious and prideful...but the anonymity of Facebook made it seem okay.
Therefore, I am challenging myself to write status updates that will leave people feeling happy and content--or at least give them a chuckle at my frequent, frazzled misadventures--rather than stir up feelings of inadequacy.
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