Rachel has an M.A. in Classical Studies and an M.Litt. in Ancient Cultures and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. She works in social media and marketing, and in her spare time is a volunteer for Heartfulness charities.

Rachel-Nelson.jpg

Rachel Nelson

<h4>
    <strong><span style="color: #995ca5">RACHEL NELSON</span>
        works in marketing and social media. And yet here she challenges the way it
        is infiltrating our lives, changing workplace norms, how we see ourselves,
        and how we live our lives.</strong>
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
    I was searching for a job during the pandemic. One of the first things I was
    told was: Have a social media presence. It will improve your chances of being
    hired. Employers want to see who you are as a person. They want to see your
    private life to know how you might act in your professional life.
</p>

<p>
    This felt like a huge invasion of privacy. It would neither have been possible
    nor acceptable before social media. Why should an employer see what goes on in
    my life outside of work? Why would a prospective employer base their decision
    to hire me on the front I show on social media?
</p>

<p>
    I was told to comb through my social media accounts, check if there was
    anything an employer might find objectionable, and make them as professional
    as possible. Having grown up when social media was for connecting with
    friends, the transition from a personal, generally private network to the
    public sphere has meant scrambling back to see if I posted anything stupid as
    a fourteen-year-old. Who didn’t?
</p>

<p>
    I first got Instagram when it was only two years old and still essentially a
    photography app. There was no concept of influencers, and social media was as
    separate from work as home life. I still use Instagram primarily as a photo
    gallery, a place to store memories, and it has been private almost as long as
    I have had it. I have never been bothered about having followers, so the
    switch from this mindset has been a difficult transition.
</p>

<p>
    In the past decade, social media has become a ubiquitous presence. It is less
    of an individual choice and more of a societal obligation. When getting and
    maintaining a job relies in part on an online presence, saying no to social
    media is a difficult decision. Its role in our professional lives means it is
    also difficult to turn off from work. It is even worse since the pandemic and
    working from home, culminating in a state where we can be contacted any time.
    Through our phones, we are constantly alert to notifications. This
    alert-feedback makes it incredibly difficult to relax or “turn off” from both
    work and social obligations.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
    <figure>
        <img decoding="async" width="700" height="382" alt="socialmedia_obligation2" class="lazyload has-img-center"
            src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/socialmedia_obligation2_700x382_58c5ac44c0.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T07:11:24.372Z" />
    </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
    As someone who works in marketing, I have four separate social media accounts
    per platform on my phone at any one time (not including my own personal
    accounts), all of which give me constant feedback. While many people get a
    separate phone for work, the obligation to keep it on and nearby, in case
    someone needs to contact us, still remains. And so, the feedback also remains.
</p>

<p>
    The second aspect of social media obligation is that of the uncalculated,
    unpaid labour which goes into a social media presence for work purposes. We
    are expected to contribute to the conversation on platforms like Twitter and
    LinkedIn, to keep up with trends, promote our work, and promote our successes.
    Employers look to see if a LinkedIn account is up-to-date and relevant, or if
    it has been left to stagnate. For many of us, these tasks are performed in our
    time off. They are unpaid, and often time-consuming and stressful.
</p>

<p>
    It creates an enforced, performative element in which people feel as though
    they have to put on a front which is not true to their lives and
    personalities. All we end up seeing are curated snippets of that person’s
    existence. We are not seeing the reality of the person; we are seeing what
    they want us to see. This results in a culture where everyone appears to be
    doing well at work, progressing, and thriving. Others feel as if they are
    stuck, less successful, and less able to juggle work and other aspects of
    life. It is the professional equivalent of seeing social media influencers on
    yet another trip to a country half-a-world away, while you’re stuck at your
    desk at home, having forgotten what fresh air smells like.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
    <span style="color: #995ca5">Social media creates an enforced,<br />performative element in
        which people
        feel<br />as though they have to put on a front <br />which is not true to
        their lives and personalities.</span>
</h4>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
    Professional use of social media is not all bad, and many people enjoy using
    it. There are some jobs that might not require a LinkedIn account as much as
    others – a farmer, for example. Farmers might have Instagram accounts in which
    they show snippets of their daily lives. This can be interesting and
    informative, as it presents insights into the lives of others and can be an
    amazing way to equalize and to connect us, showing a common human experience
    across borders.
</p>

<p>
    It is when social media is not a choice, particularly when there is pressure
    to present a perfect life – whether for work or personal use – for fear of
    being seen as less competent, that we may feel constantly on show or watched.
    This level of scrutiny can produce the feeling of being hunted, activating the
    fight or flight response. This evolutionary survival mechanism served us well
    in the past when we would either overcome danger or be killed, because either
    way the problem disappeared. Now, the alert-feedback of social media acts as a
    trigger which does not disappear. So, neither does our stress.
</p>

<p>
    This takes us to the third issue, the blurring of lines between social media
    as a hobby and social media as a job. For individual creators, artists, small
    businesses, or anyone who wants to be seen but doesn’t have a lot of money to
    pay for advertisements, social media can be anything from a casual marketing
    tool to a lifeline that brings in their only income stream. As social media
    grows, however, more and more people are turning their own lives into their
    product. They use social media to catalogue their day, their house
    renovations, their trips around the world. Through advertising and
    sponsorship, they make money from it. While there is nothing inherently wrong
    with this, the impact of having your life become your product, your social
    media become your marketing, and your attention always jumping to work through
    the easy access of your phone, will begin to take its toll on your ability to
    relax and step away from social media and work.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
    <figure>
        <img decoding="async" width="700" height="382" alt="socialmedia_obligation3" class="lazyload has-img-center"
            src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/socialmedia_obligation3_700x382_aa510b0627.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T07:12:37.330Z" />
    </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
    This is the point in an article where the conclusion drawn would usually be
    along the lines of “ultimately it is up to you how you use social media,” but
    we are now seeing that this is not the case. Many people are advocating for
    reduced social media exposure, or even getting rid of it all together, but
    with it so prevalent in our jobs and lives it is hard to reduce it, even when
    we want to.
</p>

<p>
    We are starting to see where the next evolution of social media is taking us.
    With a focus on online living and virtual reality, it already sometimes feels
    like we spend more time updating people about our lives on social media than
    actually living them. As social media becomes a normal part of existing in
    society, we need to think about how we are expected to use it, and how we wish
    to do so.
</p>

<p>
    Please share your own experience and viewpoint on this topic at
    <span style="color: #a78001">contributions@heartfulnessmagazine.com</span>
    or in the comments.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4>

<hr />

Rachel Nelson

Rachel has an M.A. in Classical Studies and an M.Litt. in Ancient Cultures and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. She works in social media and marketing, and in her spare time is a volunteer for Heartfulness charities.

Explore