Exploring Job-related and Workplace Discourse on a Social Platform: Atomisation of views or Powerful Text?

Abstract

As a site of discussion of a growing number of individuals, the social aggregator Reddit has become a repository of knowledge on a diverse range of topics. Social media users often employ the virtual space and its affordances (e.g. the possibility of anonymity) to express and negotiate their attitudes and ideas towards what they perceive as controversial matters. As stated elsewhere, “Leaving a job is naturally a very defining moment in any individuals’ life, since in current societies having a job means having an economic, as well as a social, status within the world, i.e. being part of the societal system” (Zummo and Tommaso, 2024). The job, and/or working life, is therefore a (subjective) concerning topic, linked to the dimensions regarding the individual’s quality of life, identification(s), and roles within societies. By analysing original posts and comments on a social media platform (Reddit) related to job-related issues and the possibility of radical changes (e.g., resigning), I will frame the boundaries of this online debate and its discourse constructions, examining how they contribute to a reconceptualisation of the job dimension(s). Specifically, I explore what attracts people’s attention and drives discussion in these polylogue exchanges.