Are We All Braggarts?

I love, love this article:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444184704577587091630924000.html


We were talking about this at small group one night - the way the internet allows us to see the best of people, and never their failures.  The way we carefully manage our online presence to be the best we can be.

The way we effectively shut people out of our lives by not allowing a single failure to slip through the cracks.

I've most seen this in the area of food.  One friend posted a laugh-out-loud status a couple weeks ago: "If a gourmet meal was made and no one took a picture on Instragram, did it happen?"  The word "homemade" has become a sneaky way of saying, "Look at me, I'm a domestic goddess."  Congratulations, you boiled some noodles, added some cheese, and baked them.  Way to go making your homemade gourmet mac n' cheese, you domestic goddess, you.

I think social media has almost become a way for us to stand on a table in the middle of the cafeteria and scream, "Hey everyone, look at me!"  Come look at my blog.  Look at my baby.  Look at my mad sewing skills.  Look at my frugality.  Look at how far I can run.  Look at what my amazing husband did for me (because I deserve it, of course!).

So.  How do you break the cycle?  Is it by posting your mistakes, failures, etc.?  Or by not posting at all?  Is there a difference between "sharing your life" and bragging?  Where's the line?  Is it just me, or are the people who openly acknowledge, "Hey, do you mind if I brag a bit?" the least annoying of all?