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‘Anti-flex’ If You Want To Actually Communicate Importance
The greatest show of status is not showing it at all
Perhaps you might not be saying what you think you’re saying on social media.
Consider the example of a person posting a selfie of them up in the club with the caption “VIP, Bitches!”
When they do this, they think they’re communicating “Look at my lavish lifestyle. Look how great my life is!”
Whether it’s this or any derivative (the humblebrag, etc) the intent is always the same — they are trying to communicate self-importance.
This is flexing.
By flexing, you may manage to impress people who want to have what you have. But to the person who is far above that, you look like an idiot. Your accomplishment of making it into the VIP of a famous club may impress someone who never left their small hometown, but to the person who has already lived that life, you’ve defined this as such a unique situation to you, this tiny moment is a peak experience of your life.
It would be the equivalent of bragging about being on an airplane for the first time. What’s the big deal about this? — they would think.
In other words, it’s accomplishing the exact opposite of what you probably want.
