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Kristy Kim
Writing 39C (33328)
Taylor Holbrook
3 November 2014

#FirstWorldProblems
On average, people in the United States spend about 16 minutes per hour on social media
sites (Gaudin). For the last few years, social networking websites have become immensely
popular throughout the world. Internet memes, which are cultural ideas that spread quickly
among people, have been on the rise as technology and social media emerged. Of many internet
memes that have circulated around the web, one particular trend that is especially popular is
First World Problems, where people from privileged nations complain about trivial
annoyances in their daily lives. Users of social media view these First World Problems as a
humorous and ironic joke, but the irony of the trend itself is an issue. People of the First World
are failing to realize that with these problems, they are referencing and belittling Third World
nations unintentionally. The phrase, First World Problems, is leading social media users to
become apathetic and unaware of actual concerns that are affecting the human population in both
First and Third World countries.
The concept of memes was first created in 1976 by evolutionary biologist Richard
Dawkins. In his book, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins defined the word as an idea, behavior or style
that spreads from person to person within a culture (Solon). As the internet emerged, the meme
transformed, most often associated with a photograph of someone or something that many
people can relate to; its meaning is then changed by a short bit of overlying text (Weis). With a
world-wide audience, certain memes that users find amusing or entertaining would become viral
in an instant and then quickly die down when a new, funnier meme shows up on the web. Of
several memes, the First World Problems meme found its way on the internet when it first was

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mentioned in 1995 by Matthew Good Bands song, Omissions of the Omen (Ryan). The
phrase did not gain popularity until users in 2005 started creating blogs and websites that were
specifically devoted to First World Problems (Ryan). Soon, twitter users constructed hashtags,
which are number signs (#) followed by trending key words or phrases. The phrase became
popular within the past few years, but it has become prevalent that the term has been added to the
Oxford Dictionary in November of 2012 (Steinmetz). Although First World Problems began as
a joke, the term has unfortunately evolved into ridiculous and whiny complaints.
In reality, both the First World and Third World experience problems of their own; a
Third World problem may also be a First World problem, and vice versa. People often believe
that Third World problems are related to poverty, hunger, lack of resources, and diseases.
However, similar to the Third
World, these problems are present
in the First World, as well. For
example, there were about 54,000
homeless people in the Los
Angeles area in 2013 (Holland).
As shown in Figure 1, many of
Figure 1: The homeless and their homes at Skid Row.

these poverty-stricken people

reside on the streets of Skid Row, which takes its place within the unhealthiest and dirtiest
streets of downtown Los Angeles. The picture reveals that even the most developed cities are not
perfect; even though Los Angeles is known to be a major global city, it is still unable to avoid
various issues that continue to hurt its citizens. But as the phrase First World Problems became
a part of mainstream media, it became appropriated into a gag and social media users altered its

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connotation to a phrase that merely allows the First World to moan about their lives rather than

It doesnt take
incredible
privilege or
incredible
wealth to be
tired, stressed,
or grumpy
about the minor
everyday
struggles of
life.

discussing issues that may actually affect the population. The First
World Problem trend skews the way the First World views the
Third World; Ruby Hamad explains that the trend is romanticizing
underdevelopment and perpetuating the widespread idea that
extreme poverty is the sum total of life in less privileged nations.
Although the Third World may not be as privileged as the people of
the West, it is wrong to believe that these developing nations do not
even have the opportunities to complain about their own day-to-day
routines, because they will have annoyances in their lives, as well. It
does not take incredible privilege or incredible wealth to be tired,

stressed, or grumpy about the minor everyday struggles of life (Hamad). Because of the
distorted perspective of the West upon the Third World nations, ignorance within the First World
continues to increase between social media users.
The irony with the trend leads to greater gaps between the trivialities of First World
Problems and the severity of
Third World problems. As shown
in Figure 2, one Twitter user,
Shawn Garrett, complains about

Figure 2: Twitter user Shawn Garrett (@ShawnGarrett) tweets

about his hot tub and phone.

how he spent too long in a hot tub,

resulting in his fingers becoming so
wrinkled that he is unable to unlock
his smartphone. Through his tweet,

Figure 3: Twitter user Shelby Zellmer (@sdzellmer) tweets about

her father.

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one can assume that Garrett is fortunate enough to have leisure time and own luxuries such as a
hot tub and phone. In Figure 3, another user, Shelby Zellmer, writes that her dad is mad right
now because the WiFi isnt working and he cant play Xbox. Zellmers tweet implies that she
and her family are wealthy enough to have Internet access and own an expensive game console.
Both tweets excessively flaunt privilege; it is ironic and ridiculous to say there are problems
when these experiences are
evidently not causing these two
users any serious trouble. Likewise,
when social media users complain
openly and laugh about the trivial
complications they experience,
Figure 4: A boy from the video campaign by Water is Life reads a
First World Problem.

the users fully understand that their

complaints are absurd; there is an

underlying message in every First World Problem that silently screams that First World social
media users clearly know they are privileged enough to even fret about such minor concerns in
their lives. On October 3, 2012, a campaign, Water is Life, committed to providing access to
clean water for underdeveloped countries, uploaded a video of Third World poverty-stricken
children reading various First World Problems. The campaign video focused on citizens of
Haiti; for example, as shown in Figure 4, a boy standing in front of a run-down home reads a
First World Problem which says, I hate it when my house is so big, I need two wireless
routers (First World Problems Anthem, Youtube). This video clearly demonstrates the irony
of First World Problems by telling viewers that the problems they experience in the First
World are not problems. It is obvious that the child reading that tweet does not even have a

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power supply, and this triggers the audience to realize that their trivial grievances seem foolish
compared to much more severe issues happening in the Third World. Aside from this campaign,
many Third World countries are indeed experiencing matters that put their people health and life
at risk due to the nations being underdeveloped than major urban cities in First World countries.
For instance, about 140,000 people, who are mostly Muslims, are contained in internment camps
in the country of Myanmar (Hume). According to Nima Elbagir in his article about the recent
deadly Ebola outbreak, he says for every Ebola grave, there is roughly one child who lost a
parent in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Unlike the First
World, these Third World nations such as Myanmar and West Africa must experience such
tragedies of imprisonment and spreading of deadly diseases due to their lack of resources, harsh
living conditions, and exploitation. Social media users are dismissing these serious issues
happening in the Third World by tweeting about their own trivial First World Problems.
The First World Problems trend is continuing to reinforce the unhealthy and selfindulgent Western culture by allowing social media users to find enjoyment in publicly posting
their complaints and annoyances on social
media. According to a Harvard study done
by Diana I. Tamir and Jason P. Mitchell,
self-disclosure activates certain parts of the
brain, as humans devote 30-40% of
speech output solely to informing others of
their own subjective experiences. Figure
5 reveals how when a person talks about

Figure 5: The diagram shows the difference of brain

activation when people talk about themselves vs. the
pleasure of food, sex, or money.

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80% of posts to
social media
sites (such as
Twitter consist
simply of
announcements
about ones
own immediate
experiences.

himself, the brain activates itself in the same manner as receiving

pleasure from sex and money. The study also mentions 80% of
posts to social media sites (such as Twitter) consist simply of
announcements about ones own immediate experiences. Users
of social media post such things as #firstworldproblems due to
the desire of wanting to connect with other people. One of the
main reasons why this trend became increasingly popular is
because, as much as the phrase was ironic and absurd, people
were able to connect with such trivial matters. Social media

websites provide First World people with instant gratification when other people like the
content that they post. The phrase also allows users to confirm once more that they are
privileged, because they feel that those living in relative peace and comfort can have problems,
but only if theyre qualified by the words first world (Moynihan). First World Problems
only further enhances the arrogance of First World people.
The Internet and social media has helped people all over the world to connect with one
another and become more aware of current events. However, what started out as spreading
laughs burst into a trend, and unfortunately spiraled down to making people more unaware of
how they could be making an impact on their world. First World Problems should be a wakeup
call to those who use it excessively to complain. Although real and serious problems in the First
World exist, the negative intention and connotation of the phrase itself should be turned around.
The popular hashtag of #firstworldproblems should instead be raising awareness of what is
happening in not just the Third World, but in all nations.

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Works Cited
Elbagir, Nima. Ebola makes stigmatized, abandoned orphans. CNN.com. Cable News Network.
20 Oct. 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
Garrett, Shawn (ShawnGarrett). Spent too much time in the hot tub and now my thumb is too
wrinkled to unlock my phone. #firstworldproblems. 20 Oct. 2014. 4:19 p.m. Tweet.
Gaudin, Sharon. Americans spend 16 minutes of every hour online on social nets.
ComputerWorld.com. ComputerWorld, Inc. 17 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Hamad, Ruby. The Problem with First World Problems. DailyLife.com. Fairfax Media. 5 Mar.
2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Holland, Gale. L.A. Countys Homeless Population Difficult to Quantify. Los Angeles Times.
4 Jul. 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Hong, Jae C. LAs Skid Row: A Battle of Misery and Hope (PHOTOS). HuffingtonPost.com.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. 20 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Hume, Tim. Caught between a hammer and an anvil: Myanmars Rohingya internment
camps. CNN.com. Cable News Network. 30 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
Moynihan, Michael. In Defense of First World Problems. TheDailyBeast.com. The Daily
Beast Company. 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Paulat, Lizabeth. Demystifying the Idea of First World Problems. Care2.com. Care2 Inc. 28.
Apr. 2014. Web. 22. Oct. 2014.
Ryan, Amanda. A Brief History and Rap Video about First World Problems. Sharocity.com.
Sharocity. 4 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Solon, Olivia. Richard Dawkins on the internets hijacking of the word meme. Wired.co.uk.
20 Jun. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

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Steinmetz, Katy. Oxford Dictionaries Adds Deets, 4G, and First World Problems.
TIME.com. Time Inc. 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Tamir, Diana I., and Jason P. Mitchell. Disclosing Information About The Self Is Intrinsically
Rewarding. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of
America 109.21 (2012): 8038-8043. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
The Gift of Water. First World Problems Anthem. Youtube. Youtube, 3 Oct. 2012. Web. 18
Oct. 2014.
Weis, Marina. Meme Definition Debated. Point Park News Service. 16 Apr. 2013. Web. 24
Oct. 2014.
Zellmer, Shelby (sdzellmer). My dad is mad right now because the wifi isnt working and he
cant play Xbox. #firstworldproblems. 19 Oct. 2014. 8:17 a.m. Tweet.

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Images Cited
Figure 1: Shapiro, Ben. LA Injuction Allows Skid Row Residents to Pollute Streets With
Human Waste, Needles. Breit Bart. 2 Nov. 2014.

Figure 2: Garrett, Shawn (ShawnGarrett). Spent too much time in the hot tub and now my
thumb is too wrinkled to unlock my phone. #firstworldproblems. 20 Oct. 2014. 4:19 p.m.
Tweet.

Figure 3: Zellmer, Shelby (sdzellmer). My dad is mad right now because the wifi isnt working
and he cant play Xbox. #firstworldproblems. 19 Oct. 2014. 8:17 a.m. Tweet.

Figure 4: The Gift of Water. First World Problems Anthem. Youtube. Youtube, 3 Oct. 2012.
Web. 18 Oct. 2014.

Figure 5: Tamir, Diana I., and Jason P. Mitchell. Disclosing Information About The Self Is
Intrinsically Rewarding. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United
States Of America 109.21 (2012): 8038-8043. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.