The Cringe Hall of Fame

Captions are one thing. The Hall of Fame is for the posts with ambition: the LinkedIn lessons, the dating bios with rules, the announcements of announcements. We wrote fifteen candidates, scored them all and handed out awards.

Not every nominee scored high. A few slipped past the judge with surprisingly low numbers, and those get their own section, because a humblebrag that fools a machine deserves recognition too.

All fifteen posts were written for this page and scored by the live Is This Cringe? judge on 10 October 2026. The awards are ours; the scores are not. Checks used: Is This Cringe?.

The main awards

The posts that earned their place with high scores.

• Peak LinkedIn

  Agree? 👇 Success isn't given. It's earned. Every. Single. Day. PRETTY CRINGE 74% cringe

  The algorithm is wincing.

  Why: trying too hard · takes itself seriously · LinkedIn energy · Try-hard 7/10 · Humblebrag 2/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 10/10

  The top score in the Hall at 74%, with LinkedIn energy 10/10. One-word sentences with full stops are the house style of motivational posts, and “Agree?” is the cherry on top.

• The Lesson Nobody Requested

  I fired my best employee today. Here's what it taught me about leadership 🧵👇 PRETTY CRINGE 69% cringe

  The algorithm is wincing.

  Why: trying too hard · LinkedIn energy · fishing for likes · Try-hard 7/10 · Humblebrag 3/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 10/10

  69% cringe and LinkedIn energy 10/10. Turning someone else’s bad day into your leadership lesson is a genre, and this is its purest form.

• Announcement of an Announcement

  Big news!!! 🎉 After a lot of thought I've decided to start my journey as a thought leader. Stay tuned. PRETTY CRINGE 68% cringe

  The algorithm is wincing.

  Why: trying too hard · LinkedIn energy · fishing for likes · Try-hard 8/10 · Humblebrag 6/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 8/10

  68%, try-hard 8/10. Declaring yourself a thought leader is the one thing guaranteed to stop people thinking of you as one.

• Classic Engagement Bait

  Comment YES if you agree that hard work pays off 👇👇👇 PRETTY CRINGE 67% cringe

  Secondhand embarrassment: rising.

  Why: takes itself seriously · fishing for likes · LinkedIn energy · Try-hard 3/10 · Humblebrag 1/10 · Emoji load 1/10 · LinkedIn energy 7/10

  67% cringe, with fishing for likes as a top reason. Asking people to agree with something nobody disagrees with is a way of collecting comments, not opinions.

• Promotion Speedrun

  Can't believe I got promoted again lol, I don't even try that hard PRETTY CRINGE 65% cringe

  Secondhand embarrassment: rising.

  Why: humblebrag · trying too hard · fishing for likes · Try-hard 6/10 · Humblebrag 10/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 1/10

  Humblebrag 10/10, the maximum, and 65% overall. The word “again” is doing a lot of work.

• Clap Emoji Philosophy

  Your vibe attracts your tribe. If they don't clap, change the audience 👏🔥 PRETTY CRINGE 64% cringe

  The algorithm is wincing.

  Why: trying too hard · LinkedIn energy · takes itself seriously · Try-hard 7/10 · Humblebrag 3/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 10/10

  64%, LinkedIn energy 10/10. A rhyming life lesson about applause, followed by an applause emoji.

• Not Sponsored (Allegedly)

  Not sponsored but this $90 water bottle changed my life 💧✨ link in bio PRETTY CRINGE 61% cringe

  The algorithm is wincing.

  Why: trying too hard · fishing for likes · humblebrag · Try-hard 8/10 · Humblebrag 6/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 7/10

  61% with try-hard 8/10. The price tag and the link in bio are doing the opposite of what “not sponsored” promises.

• The Swipe Ultimatum

  Just someone who loves travel, food and laughing. Swipe left if you're boring. PRETTY CRINGE 56% cringe

  The algorithm is wincing.

  Why: trying too hard · fishing for likes · takes itself seriously · Try-hard 6/10 · Humblebrag 3/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 0/10

  56%. Loving travel, food and laughing describes nearly everyone, which makes the warning to boring people the only memorable part, and not in a good way.

• Non-Apology of the Year

  To everyone I hurt: I'm sorry you felt that way. Growth is a journey 🦋 PRETTY CRINGE 54% cringe

  Main-character energy detected.

  Why: LinkedIn energy · takes itself seriously · trying too hard · Try-hard 4/10 · Humblebrag 2/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 8/10

  54%, with LinkedIn energy 8/10. Apologising for someone else’s feelings, then adding a butterfly, is the full non-apology kit.

• Most Measurements in a Bio

  6'1 because apparently that matters. Fluent in sarcasm. Looking for my partner in crime 😜 PRETTY CRINGE 53% cringe

  The algorithm is wincing.

  Why: humblebrag · trying too hard · fishing for likes · Try-hard 5/10 · Humblebrag 7/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 0/10

  53% and humblebrag 7/10. Complaining that height matters while leading with it is a bold structure.

• Fastest Forever

  Happy 2-week anniversary to the love of my life, I've never been this sure of anything 💍 PRETTY CRINGE 52% cringe

  Secondhand embarrassment: rising.

  Why: trying too hard · fishing for likes · takes itself seriously · Try-hard 6/10 · Humblebrag 2/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 1/10

  52%, try-hard 6/10. A ring emoji at two weeks is a lot of certainty for fourteen days.

Honourable mentions: the ones the judge let off

Strong candidates that scored surprisingly low. Self-awareness, it turns out, is a powerful defence.

• Child as a Business Metaphor

  My 4-year-old asked me what B2B SaaS is. Here's what I told her about resilience. MILD CRINGE 49% cringe

  One emoji too many, maybe.

  Why: effortless · self-aware · no bragging · Try-hard 4/10 · Humblebrag 3/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 9/10

  Only 49% and mild, despite LinkedIn energy 9/10. The judge decided it was self-aware. We are less sure.

• Most Self-Aware Losses

  Bought the dip. Bought the other dip. I am the dip now. 📉💎🙌 MILD CRINGE 37% cringe

  One emoji too many, maybe.

  Why: effortless · self-aware · no bragging · Try-hard 3/10 · Humblebrag 2/10 · Emoji load 2/10 · LinkedIn energy 4/10

  37%, mild. Laughing at your own bad investments is endearing enough that the judge forgave the emoji.

• Humblebrag Most Likely to Slip Past a Machine

  Ugh, so annoying when the car dealership sends flowers again 🙄 MILD CRINGE 29% cringe

  Slightly try-hard, mostly fine.

  Why: effortless · no guru voice · no bragging · Try-hard 0/10 · Humblebrag 2/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 0/10

  Just 29%, with humblebrag scored at only 2/10. A complaint about flowers from the car dealership is a brag about buying a car, and the judge did not notice. Humans will.

• Bravest Take

  Unpopular opinion: breakfast is important. MILD CRINGE 28% cringe

  A light wince.

  Why: effortless · no bragging · natural wording · Try-hard 2/10 · Humblebrag 1/10 · Emoji load 0/10 · LinkedIn energy 1/10

  28%, the lowest in the Hall. An “unpopular opinion” that almost everyone agrees with is a small joke, and the judge found it natural rather than cringe.

For the everyday version, gym selfies, travel posts and brunch, see Cringe Captions. If you want to know why posts like these trigger a wince, the guide on why some posts feel cringe breaks it down.

More collections

• Cringe Captions: Gym, travel, brunch and new-job captions, scored for cringe.
• The RealCheckMe Hall of Shame: The worst ideas, texts and posts across all three checks.
• Guess the Verdict: A 20-question quiz: guess the score, then reveal it.
• All examples and collections