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Reality Check Video- A look at social media’s impact on job satisfaction
Imogen Spouse
Consultant
Reality check – A look at social media’s impact on job satisfaction.
Is social media leading to unrealistic job expectations?
Research conducted by the Deakin school of psychology found that social media content is regularly misleading, with users depicting an unrealistic, faultless lifestyle.
Additionally, academics have found that often young people lack the ability to critically evaluate online content.
Combined, users of social media struggle to differentiate between the high flying lifestyles portrayed and the everyday reality. The gap between expectation and reality is widening.
Presenting unrealistic lifestyles has extended to the workplace. Professional social networking platforms, are now used less for intellectual dialogue and more for bragging rights.
Increasingly, people think the typical workday consists of founding a tech startup, traveling first class or speaking at a global summit, and when compared against their self perceived mundane work life, they become dissatisfied.
The impact of social media on self value is complex. But what we do know is that the more we compare our achievements and work opportunities to others, realistic or not, the greater our dissatisfaction.
So what can we do to be more critical of social media?
Examine the agenda. Seek out the reality of workplaces. Speak to friends and family. And listen to honest accounts of good and bad work stories and also share yours.
In the words of infamous bard, Bob Marley…
“perhaps not all that glitters is gold.”