I poured through my photos yesterday (Thursday) in an attempt to come up with the perfect TBT photo. Dad, since I know you’ll ask, TBT (Throwback Thursday) is when people post old photos of themselves on social media or blogs. Not old as in, “Check out my crow’s feet in this photo,” but old like, “Hey, check out my ALF t-shirt.”
I have plenty of pictures of both, by the way.
If you’ve been on social media for any length of time you’ll notice that TBT is a very popular trend with celebrities. One possible explanation is that it gives a legitimate reason (or at least a weekly occasion) for a humble brag.
Now, I wouldn’t consider myself a celebrity . . .
[NO ONE would consider you a celebrity.]
. . . but I have noticed that even someone with a semi-enormous following like little ol’ me is not immune to this TBT humble brag phenomenon.
(See what I did there?)
So, I have come up with 5 easy steps for TBT photos so you can get your humble brag on—Hollywood style.
1) Be “real.”
At least one aspect of the photo should be unflattering. Whether it’s your outfit, your hair, or the face you’re making, something should make the viewer say, “She had bad hair days in the 90s just like normal people” (or any number of Star magazine headlines like that).
2) Location, location, location. And $, $, $.
The photo should take place in an exotic or exciting location. If you can include red carpet in the photo, that is a must. But please do so subtly. Also, the more extravagance you can convey in a single photo the better. For instance, take a photo of your $900 shoes that just HAPPEN to be on a reddish carpet outside a celebrity-clad event.
You could caption it this way:
“Totes messed up my pedi & my Louboutins getting out of my Lambo. At least my Oscar took the attention off my embarrassingly tiny feet! #TBT”
Side note: Any form of the word “embarrassed” throws people off the scent of your humble brag.
“#TBT on the French Riviera. I still get so EMBARRASSED when people recognize me overseas. How do you say, ‘No autographs, please’ in French?”
3) Drop name bombs.
I don’t care if it’s a movie star, a President, or the Progressive Insurance lady, you squeeze that name in there some how.
“This TBT reminds me of when I looked like Tina Fey. Funny, since I look just like Amy Poehler since the surgery. Tina said she thinks so too.“
Subtlety is the name of the game, folks.
4) Make social media your ever-present resume.
There is no better way to remind the world just how famous and important you are than through social media and TBT photos.
“Remember the time I appeared on an award-winning TV program with @katiecouric with my shirt on inside out? #embarrassing #TBT”
Here’s another example:
“My mom still has my Stanford diploma & my Emmys over the mantle. I should give her my Jackson Pollock instead. #embarrassing #artsyfartsy #TBT”
I hope you guys are catching the genius in this, because in less than 140 characters, I conveyed humility, pedigree, career success, and expensive taste in abstract art.
Boom.
5) Hashtags FTW (for the win)!
If you can’t come up with the perfect mix of useless acronyms (SMH) and incomplete sentences to convey your awesomeness in a humble braggy way, just take to hashtags to do it for you.
(Note: See if you can spot all 5 rules in the following photo and caption.)
“Life on set is SO much harder than real life. Desert hair doesn’t work no matter how many celeb stylists I have on speed dial. #1stWorldProbs #3rdWorldProbs #StanfordGrad #TBT”
Again, subtlety.
Do you participate in TBT? If so, which of these rules do you find most helpful?
P.S. – I did not go to Stanford. But I bet you can find plenty of actual celebs who did by searching #Stanford on any social media platform.
I think TBT would be a great idea…..you know if I were the nostalgic type who liked to brag and name drop.
Well, gotta go now. There are all kinds of TV shows and movies filming here in Conyers, GA. It reminds me of my TV debut giving my 4-H demonstration on the Farmer Chambers Hour on Channel 6 in Augusta, GA! I just never know who I might run into these days. #HoneyBooBoo, #Hugh Jackman, #The Originals.
Solid effort, G-man. Solid. Just a few items to critique if you don’t mind.
1) You can’t have spaces or characters between words in hashtags. Otherwise, you’ll lose anything after the space. So, basically, you just hashtagged #HoneyBooBoo, #Hugh, and #The. No one would find you in a search. Except for extreme Honey Boo Boo fans (like yourself).
2) If your humble brag begins with “4-H” or “Farmer Chambers Hours,” then you’re probably better off just leaving that part out completely. I think it’s enough to say something like this:
“Ugh. Remember when they filmed that movie in my back yard? Well, at least they paid off of my $3M mortgage! #TBT”
Really, there’s no need to bring 4-H into this. Ever. However, if you were ever in a beauty pageant, that would certainly work.