Humblebrag
Something immediately annoyed writer Harris Wittels about Twitter. All of a sudden it was OK to brag, so long as those brags were ever-so-thinly masked in crappy, transparent humility. Once Harris identified this widespread issue, he decided to take action by naming this phenomenon and creating the twitter account called Humblebrag--solely dedicated to retweeting the humblebrags of others.
Started less than a year ago, the Twitter feed is literally adding thousands of subscribers every day. A humblebrag, as defined by Harris, is a specific type of boast that allows the offender to broadcast their achievements without the necessary shame and guilt that should normally accompany such claims. Here are two examples:
@JoshHighland tweets: "Just filed my taxes. Biggie was right, mo money mo problems."
@glowyjoeybunny tweets: "I hate when I go into a store to get something to eat and the male staff are too busy hitting on me to get my order right :( so annoying!"
Harris also shows us what humblebrags might look like from some of history's most notable names, as well as devoting an entire chapter to @TotesMcGotes, the greatest humblebraggart of them all.
Harris Wittels is a stand-up comedian who currently writes for NBC's Parks and Recreation (on which he sometimes appears as Harris, the Animal Control guy). He has also written on HBO's acclaimed series, Eastbound and Down, Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Show, MTV's Human Giant and the MTV Video and Music award shows. He recently wrote a feature film for Mandate Pictures which is set to star Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride.
In addition to his writing, Harris regularly tours the country performing stand-up comedy with such comics as Sarah Silverman, Louis C.K. and B.J. Novak.
His stand-up has been featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Comedy Central's Live at Gotham and Showtime's Live, Nude Comedy. He is also on the Variety's "10 Comics to Watch" list for 2011.