Does anyone else feel like people are just constantly showing off these days?

[Owlight637]

I’m not on any social media but I do have what’s app. Every day I get photos from friends-in the last 24 hours I’ve had photos of:

• a friend’s puppy asleep in its crate

-neighbours decking that they’ve build -a plant pot that a different friend has painted -SIL on the beach with my nephews (captioned with how lucky they are to live so close to the sea) -a 3 course meal that another friend made

I seem to spend all my time replying ‘well done, fantastic, looks lovely etc etc

I don’t know if I’m being over sensitive because quite frankly, (in my opinion) I’ve got nothing worth photographing and sending to anyone (the pizza I shoved in the oven, DS playing on his Xbox, the dog asleep on its chair perhaps?)

Is it me? Am I miserable? I wonder if this is how social media (ie, Facebook or Instagram) is these days and because I’m not part of it I find it odd.

Yup. Facebook + isolation + bored people = showing off about home schooling, baking bread, craft creations etc. I do think a huge number of these people are actually very unhappy, it seems they like to live a very fake life and I'm especially suspicious when they go on about how much they love their OH. A little bit like the lady doth protest too much

Nope I'm with you, unfollowed a few people on FB recently because of this

Make a banana loaf and post it to Facebook.

@fascinated what?! It's a text message so of course it's directed at you!

Banana bread is seriously fucking gross. I am never impressed by anyone making it

How is showing a puppy asleep in a crate showing off? A three course meal. What's wrong with that? Sorry I think you are being a little over sensitive. If it's not for you just come off social media.

Photos of a sleeping puppy and a plant pot is "showing off"?! wow yeah what awful braggarts they are.

I havent RTFT but I'm sure MN will have told you by now they are clearly awful narcissists and you should cut them out of your life immediately!
You dont want people like that in your life- they sound absolutely horrific!

Send them pictures of the dog asleep in his chair I would

Yes. My sister is a case in point. She lives in a lovely place and has acres of land etc. Ever since lockdown we have had one picture after another of her and my nieces and nephews camping, swimming in the outdoor pool etc with lots of 'feeling blessed' and comments about her children dont spend hours on the playstation. If this was her 'normal' then fine. But apart from the odd photo, she has rarely mentioned all this until lockdown. It does seem to be deliberate but perhaps I'm feeling a touch sensitive given I live in London and have a postage stamp of a garden. Feeling very guilty that my sons spend most of their time on the playstation and I know they would love to have just a small smidge of that freedom right now.

But it’s not a text message, it’s a WhatsApp group chat. It’s different. It’s verbal diarrhoea half the time, and so dull, reading everyone else’s stock replies.

Another social media photo from my bragging acquaintance today; her walking naked in her back garden. Photo is taken from behind and she is wearing Louboutin shoes and carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, both of which she's tagged! A double whammy brag of 'look at my surgically enhanced body' and 'look at my expensive accessories'

@ScreamingKid, that's the sort of thing that is actually insensitive given the situation we're all in and presumably your sister know you haven't got acres of land including an outdoor pool.

It's bragging of the worst kind and possibly unintentionally, but she'd have to be rather stupid to not realise, designed to make her feel good at your expense.

I'm finding a lot of that sort of thing going on now, people almost crowing about how much better their lockdown life is compared to yours.

Eating - surely not? That’s utterly tasteless. Are you joking?

It's people trying to keep in touch with you I guess. Showing you what's going on in their world. None of those examples seem like bragging to me.

^ This. If you were having a face to face chat with someone, catching up on whatever you'd both been up to lately, and they talked about their puppy, their new decking, their holiday etc, would that be bragging? Nope. It's just normal conversation. People tend to talk about what's new, what they're enjoying, what they're feeling pleased about. It's perfectly normal.

@fascinated nope! She does stuff like that all the time, even more so at the moment!

Oh my word. I’d have to unfriend someone like that.

Problem with WhatsApp groups is you often end up being a diluted version of yourself. ❤️😘🥰🤪 and 🤗 and gushing over someone's puppies start to feel a little bland after a while.

Some people definitely use Facebook to brag; I find it annoying too, especially serial braggers who never write anything self-depreciating or about something other than themself, and even manage to make a trip to the theatre for example, about how fucking wonderful they are for getting these got tickets etc.

So OP, YADNBU and the people who say you are, are cunts (lighthearted 🤗🥰🥰😘❤️😘).

I prefer SM for this kind of thing to messaging in a private chat/ small group. On FB, you can quietly scroll on, or like or engage fully. In a private chat, it's either blatently ignore or be pushed into a response. I find the IL's family chat awkward for this reason, plus there's a cultural gap anyway so I don't always get the full significance of what they're celebrating. My DCs are much younger, so their 25m swimming badge is not terribly impressive compared to their near adult cousins' achievements. I'd be more inclined to respond if it was just openly on FB as I wouldn't feel pressed to either ignore or try to think up a better way of saying "that's nice"

I don't really get the MN stance on SM and "bragging". I post things that made me smile and they tend to be mundane (and often self depricating.) My thing at the moment is country walks and wild flowers. I long since accepted that I do not have crafty children etc. I like seeing things from people in different positions to me and I'm not prone to envy.

I don't phone friends to chat really, because my life is pleasantly mundane and I can go years without anything really newsworthy occuring, but I use FB as a bit of open ended small talk that people can opt to engage with. It's nice if people choose to engage, but I'm "friends" with people of overlapping interests and mindsets that I actually like. Snooze is handy for anyone too political to unfriend should they be too annoying.

Yes. Loads of people we know are furlough so getting paid but time to do jobs etc We are both working at home FT and mad busy plus trying to look after 2 primary aged kids on top. I'm tired of being tagged in 'boredom games'
I've taken to responding ' I wish I had the time / still working'.

Sometimes, it is showing off, not always but sometimes it is.

Am sure we all do it with out even realising.

I came off FB for a number of reasons, but top of that list was the bragging.

I suspect though its some sort of cultural shift going on. As a nation , the UK is not what I would describe as celebratory of achievement. I was listening to the radio in America once and they had a whole load of people calling just to tell everyone about their latest achievement in the family. For example, one of their kids had finished college. The presenter would then say how great that was etc. They were genuinely pleased and it was clear it wasn't regarded as bragging. But here in the UK I couldn't imagine that same scenario happening because we would see it as bragging. I wonder if that whole mindset that its bragging rather than sharing news about an achievement is changing and SM is an outlet for that?

Photos of food cooked at home very rarely look nice. I'm sure the food looks lovely, but a quick snap on a mobile doesn't do the job. I know someone who posts a photo nearly every night to show what they've 'cooked from scratch'. More commonly known as cooking. 😊

I find WhatsApp groups the worst.

I can go off and do something and next time I look at my phone I’ve got 50+ messages to trawl through
Mostly nonsense

Drives me crazy

In the UK it seems to be acceptable to “brag” about shite that you have bought but not about being good at schoolwork or academic stuff. That’s depressing.

Groupchats can leave me feeling rubbish. It's like friends use them instead of checking in on you/ catching up with you properly. And then there's all the photos instead.
Then some people don't reply and you know they probably wish they weren't in the group but can't leave (yes, sometimes this is me). And then two or three members seem to have a great buzz/ connection/private conversation on there and I feel jealous (ridiculous I know) .
Or you have to think of an original reply because "beautiful" or "great pic" has already been used.
Yeah, I overthink things.