Flexing

The Bridge: Gen Z takes bragging to another level with the help of social media and a few choice words.

More Is More

These days, a casual scroll through Instagram’s explore page might as well be a walk through the Palace of Versailles. With increasingly high volumes of luxury content pumped out by influencers, Gen Z is navigating the murky waters between highlighting life’s good parts, and showing off.

Grab your wallet, this week’s extravagant lingo is nothing less than “Flexing (💪)” 

Flexing = bragging about your wealth, experiences, or attributes, an age-old practice that you wouldn’t typically associate with the community/wellness/equality-conscious Gen Z. Yet many influencers, dare we say the majority, have found mainstream success through flaunting their aspirational lifestyles to the masses…

Oftentimes literally telling their followers to eat cake (or some other expensive item that they can’t afford).

So what’s kept their heads intact and the attention (and money) rolling in?

We’re glad you asked.

Recent generations were able to gloat about their successes without much commentary from the general population. However, this changed entirely with the advent of the social media comment section. “Humble Bragging” – the humility one expresses while metaphorically defecating on you – is ESSENTIAL to modern day flexing; and this isn’t limited to influencers.

Gen-Z has mastered the art of downplaying their status and achievements in numerous ways. Whether it’s crediting others for supporting them, acknowledging their privilege, or simply expressing an overwhelming amount of gratitude, followers eat it up and continue to support the lavish lifestyles of their digital besties.

Ahhhh Influencers…they’re just like us!

Flexing is a pretty straightforward term, so we’re switching it up this week and giving you the modifying lingo to turn-up your Gen Z communication skills.

Use this table to flex on the Gen Zer in your life!

• “Flexing” – Bragging about yourself, showing off your things.
• “Flexed Up” – A state of being that implies your entire life is a flex.
• “Quiet Flex” – A flex that isn’t made obvious by the flexer. Think “quiet luxury” trends to avoid looking like a try-hard.
• “That’s a high-key flex” – A response to someone being too humble, encouraging them to take pride in their above average accomplishment.
• “💪” – The quintessential flexing emoji- perfect for tweets, captions, and single character responses in the group chat.

We can’t wait for you to flex your new vocab in our comment section, no need to be shy: @thegenbridge!