Who is bragging more online? A large scale analysis of bragging in social media

TL;DR

This study analyzes bragging behavior on Twitter, revealing its decline over time, demographic influences, and linguistic themes, providing insights into online self-promotion patterns.

Contribution

It is the first large-scale computational sociolinguistics study of bragging on social media, examining prevalence, demographics, and linguistic features.

Findings

Bragging prevalence decreases over time.

Younger, educated, and popular users brag more.

Distinct linguistic themes are associated with user traits.

Abstract

Bragging is the act of uttering statements that are likely to be positively viewed by others and it is extensively employed in human communication with the aim to build a positive self-image of oneself. Social media is a natural platform for users to employ bragging in order to gain admiration, respect, attention and followers from their audiences. Yet, little is known about the scale of bragging online and its characteristics. This paper employs computational sociolinguistics methods to conduct the first large scale study of bragging behavior on Twitter (U.S.) by focusing on its overall prevalence, temporal dynamics and impact of demographic factors. Our study shows that the prevalence of bragging decreases over time within the same population of users. In addition, younger, more educated and popular users in the U.S. are more likely to brag. Finally, we conduct an extensive linguistics analysis to unveil specific bragging themes associated with different user traits.