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First World problem is an informal term for the issues in
First World nations that are complained about in response to the perceived absence of more pressing concerns. It has been called a subset of the
fallacy of relative privation and is also used to acknowledge gratefulness for not having worse problems, such as those in the
Second
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
or
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...
s. It 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.
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, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...
beginning in 2005, particularly on
social networking
A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...
sites like
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
(where it became a popular
hashtag). In 2012,
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
NZ conducted a survey of First World problems in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, 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 considered by many to be the standard reference on Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand English. Originally it was a publishing proje ...
'' in December 2012.
Examples
Things that have been cited as being First World problems include:
*Slow
Internet access
Internet access is a facility or service that provides connectivity for a computer, a computer network, or other network device to the Internet, and for individuals or organizations to access or use applications such as email and the World Wide ...
*Poor
mobile-phone coverage
*
Phone battery dying (
low battery anxiety)
*
Television remote not working
*Misplacing
AirPods (the most frequent complaint about AirPods).
Apple Inc. 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
*Bad-tasting fruit
*Self-checkout in stores
*Forgetting
headphones
Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an ...
*Feeling like there's nothing to eat even though there is plenty of food available.
See also
*
First World privilege
*
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a conceptualisation of the needs (or goals) that motivate human behaviour, which was proposed by the American psychologist Abraham Maslow. According to Maslow's original formulation, there are five sets of basic n ...
*
Whataboutism
References
External links
*
First World Problems Anthem
{{Authority control
Internet memes
Social privilege
Slang
1970s neologisms