Ew, Cringe

I have learned recently that not everyone finds the same things embarrassing. 

Tiktok has many examples of this. There are videos of people talking to their camera while sitting on the toilet. There are videos of people tripping and falling and getting totally destroyed by a puddle. There are people discussing their wild medical issues and more. None of these people were too embarrassed to post these videos. 

I have a friend who is embarrassed when anyone does things that are outside of the rules of traditional etiquette, like putting your napkin in the wrong place when you leave the table.  I have another friend who is embarrassed by things like a lack of modesty.  

I find this fascinating!  Neither of those things bother me at all.  

For the longest time I really hated being embarrassed, but I would be embarrassed by things that didn’t really matter. I hate saying the wrong word or mispronouncing a word.  But everyone does this. Why be embarrassed about it?  

I have had friends and acquaintances do all sorts of things that they may find embarrassing and instead of calling attention to it I just ignored it.  People call me Megan instead of Morgan all the time (even people I have known for YEARS) and sometimes call me some other wrong name.  I don’t correct them on it.  It doesn’t bother me.  People can tell me about their relationships or medical stuff and I am completely unbothered.  

The reason I bring any of this up, is that the people who I have seen do BEST on social media are often willing to be embarrassed and go outside the lines of what we expect people to comfortably post on the internet.  It can be a very effective way to get attention.  People will get excited to see people post things that are wild, unexpected, or make them cringe.  

So maybe embarrassment can be used at a tactic to get more social media clout. Not every brand should use this type of content. But it definitely will work for some individuals and brands.  

If you have seen an embarrassing video that really worked for a creator/brand, drop it in the comments!