What Does The Rise Of Announcement Culture Mean?

Not a day goes by without seeing someone, somewhere, post 'Some personal news...' on social media. But what does the rise of announcement culture mean in a post-pandemic world of work?

- Jessica Noah Morgan

You've seen the posts; you know the preface. They are the humble brag you love to hate and hate to love. They're annoying, they're joyous, and you can't scroll through social media for a whole day without seeing one. I have announced two job moves across my social media platforms in the space of a year (don't hate the player, hate the game) alongside my professional awards. One tweet has garnered Y over 709 likes, while an Instagram post has reached over 2,000 likes and counting. At one point, after leaving a job in 2020, I went so far as to write a 'press release' about my departure in Apple Notes - because 280 characters just wasn't enough - before sharing it on Twitter and Instagram.

After each announcement, every notification I received was like a dopamine hit straight into my veins. It didn't matter whether I knew the person or not; I felt smug, proud, and at the top of my game. But it wasn't long before the euphoria wore off, panic-struck, and I frantically looked around for other things in my arsenal to announce: a new job with an insane relocation package? A book deal? A baby? Welcome to the era of announcement culture.

When I switched careers in 2017 from law (where you'd rather die than brag about a promotion) to journalism (where you'd die if you didn't), I felt the pressure to share my professional news in order to build my personal brand and to get my name out there in the industry. Dan, 27, who also recently made the switch from law to journalism, felt this too. 'When I was working in law, nobody announced their job move on social media, especially not Twitter,' he says. 'At a stretch, you'd update your LinkedIn profile and your network would get notified, but that's about it.'