Bragging vs. Sharing One's Pride on Facebook: That Thin Line

There is a thin line that separates bragging and sharing one’s pride on Facebook. How do we tell the difference?

Bragging on Facebook has sent some users abandoning or deactivating their Facebook accounts. Apparently, these loud-talking braggarts have become too much to handle. Showing off that much-awaited Carribean cruise, travels here and there, that gorgeous body, that newly purchased iPad or that big fat moolah one made online may still merit “oohhs” and “aahhs” from others but not from those who now find this customary bragging quite annoying or downright offensive.

How does one tell the difference between empty boasting on Facebook and sharing one’s pride in an achievement? Some readers claim it is quite easy to tell. The one who brags persistently draws attention to himself or lifts himself while making others feel down. He creates an aura of conceit about him. He does not inspire but repels. He is one who says, “I’m married to a doctor” instead of “My wife is a doctor.” One wonders if he realizes how irksome his boastful talk can be. But then again, he couldn’t care less. He is not obliged to please everyone much less turn down the volume on things that matter in his life.

Truth is, I am not at all bothered by these so-called show-offs on Facebook. They, too, have their own life journey. If at all, I get curious about their fabulous lives. A wonderful partner, adorable kids, a comfortable home, a high-paying job, a body to die for. The works! Now how about the bad stuff? Doesn’t anything ever go wrong in their lives? Not that I tend to dwell on the negative. Human nature drives us to seek some balance, some semblance of normalcy even on a virtual landscape as Facebook. Isn’t there anything that can benefit the others in any way instead of making them all the more unhappy about their lives by this constant braggadocio?

Perhaps there is a lesson that must be learned by those who habitually boast and those at the receiving end. A life coach once told his client, “You see things not how they really are but how you are.” True. Let’s examine ourselves. We may have appeared to brag at some point in our Facebook lives but unless readers understand our real intentions and take a hard look at themselves and their frustrations about their own lives, we cannot be judged. A person tends to draw conclusions based on his subjective reality. To one who can hardly make both ends meet and put a decent meal on the family table, arrogant is the man who shows off his family on a luxurious European cruise on Facebook. But he always has a choice. He can choose to waste his time wallowing in self-pity and resentment or pour out tolerance and let these people be.

Show-offs, on the other hand, may learn a thing or two from Deenie in “Everything I Needed to Know About Being A Girl, I Learned from Judy Blume.” God blessed you with a beautiful face, a special brain, material wealth, the good life. “He wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t intended for you to put it to good use.” Now go and turn the spotlight away from yourselves and use your blessings to bless others on Facebook.