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First World problem is an informal term for the issues in
First World
The concept of First World originated during the Cold War and comprised countries that were under the influence of the United States and the rest of NATO and opposed the Soviet Union and/or communism during the Cold War. Since the collapse of ...
nations that are complained about in response to the perceived absence of more pressing concerns. Although it has been described as "a subset of the
fallacy of relative privation", the term is also used by many people to acknowledge their gratefulness for not having worse problems, and recognise their problems in a global context. The term has been used to minimize complaints about trivial issues and shame the complainer, to generate humour at the expense of first world culture, and as good-humored
self-deprecation
Self-deprecation is the act of reprimanding oneself by belittling, undervaluing, disparaging oneself, or being excessively modest. It can be used as a way to make complaints, express modesty, invoke optimal reactions or add humour. It may also be u ...
.
History
The term ''First World problem'' first appeared in 1979 in G. K. Payne's work ''Built Environment'',
but gained recognition as an
Internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
beginning in 2005, particularly on
social networking
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
sites like
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
(where it became a popular
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
). In 2012,
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
NZ conducted a survey of First World problems in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, finding "slow web access" to be the most common.
The phrase was added to the ''Oxford Dictionary Online'' in November 2012, and to the online ''
Macquarie Dictionary
The ''Macquarie Dictionary'' () is a dictionary of Australian English. It is generally considered by universities and the legal profession to be the authoritative source on Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand En ...
'' in December 2012.
Examples
Things that have been cited as being First World problems include:
*Slow
Internet access
Internet access is the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices; and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is sold by Internet ...
*Poor
mobile-phone coverage
*
Phone battery dying (
low battery anxiety
Nomophobia (short for "no mobile phobia") is a word for the fear of, or anxiety caused by, not having a working mobile phone.Charlie D'AgatNomophobia: Fear of being without your cell phone CBS News. April 3, 2008. It has been considered a sympto ...
)
*
Television remote not working
*Misplacing
AirPods
AirPods are wireless Bluetooth earbuds designed by Apple Inc. They were first announced on September 7, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7. Within two years, they became Apple's most popular accessory. The most recent model, AirPods (3rd generation ...
(the most frequent complaint about AirPods).
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
attempted to alleviate this problem by introducing a "Find My AirPods" application in 2017.
*Not being able to find items in a shop
*Getting a bad
haircut
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming ...
*Bad-tasting fruit
See also
*
Embarrassment of riches
An embarrassment of riches is an idiom that means an overabundance of something, or too much of a good thing, that originated in 1738 as John Ozell's translation of a French play, ''L'Embarras des richesses'' (1726), by Léonor Jean Christine S ...
*
First World privilege
First World privilege is any advantages accrued by an individual by virtue of being a national of a First World country.
Overview
First-World privilege is often explicitly maintained by legal means such as immigration laws and trade barriers. F ...
*
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is an idea in psychology proposed by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in the journal ''Psychological Review''. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his o ...
*
Whataboutism
Whataboutism or whataboutery (as in "what about…?") denotes in a pejorative sense a procedure in which a critical question or argument is not answered or discussed, but retorted with a critical counter-question which expresses a counter-accu ...
References
External links
*
First World Problems Anthem
{{Authority control
Internet memes
Social privilege
Slang
1970s neologisms