Social media has become our real-life Groundhog Day: engagements and weddings, pregnancies, new jobs, promotions and businesses – or, on the other hand, redundancies and job losses – new pets, graduation photos, and property purchases (for the lucky few). Same posts, different faces. Whether you’re conscious of it or not, we’re all living in an ‘announcement culture’.
But how did we get here? And is the almost automatic reflex to share every announceable piece of personal news messing with our mental health? Yeah, maybe. Read on for our writer’s break down.
What is ‘Announcement Culture’?
The term was coined by British fitness influencer Grace Beverley in her book Working Hard, Hardly Working. Beverley writes that announcement culture is defined by “our ever-growing need to announce everything we’re doing, therefore perpetuating our anxiety of having ‘things’ to announce in the first place. [We] judge our success and that of others on the quantity (rather than the quality) of announcements made.”
Announcing any and every significant change in our lives a way of seeking validation for the progress we’ve made, either consciously or unconsciously. Sharing milestones publicly gives us a chance to tick off the items on the productivity check-list of life, feeding into a mindset that seeks out more progression, more achievement, more announcements to be shared.
And of course, in a 21st Century world announcement culture is rooted in social media.
Announcement Culture & Social Media
Before social media, you might have indulged in a little humble brag among friends and family – and why not? They care about and are invested in the ups and downs of your life. But announcing personal news to almost everyone you know (and those you don’t know) on a widespread scale has only been possible for roughly a decade.
Social media brought us the ability to instantly announce to the world all of our achievements, as soon as we achieve them. Announcement culture and social media combined, fuels our need for validation. Associate Professor of Psychology Daria Kuss told VICE that likes or flattering comments on our online photos, activates the brain’s reward centers – over time, we associate social media notifications with this pleasant experience. But posting our announcements on social media brings the instant gratification of triggering that reward center, which can push us into a cycle of continuously posting for repetitive compliments.
On Twitter, announcement culture even has its own subculture. Have you noticed the constant stream of tweets that start with “In some personal news…” followed by a new job, new business, resignation or redundancy announcement? According to Refinery29, the phrase “some personal news” has tripled in use in the past five years!
some personal news! i’m tired! pic.twitter.com/avInMVeMor
— Lauren Chanel (@MichelleHux) June 9, 2021
Is It Good Or Bad For Us?
Like everything social media, there’s good and bad. On one hand, announcement culture has undeniably made it easier to network and build a personal-professional brand within your job industry. It’s also a helpful tool for advancing causes of representation – sharing successes and achievements is an important tool to increase visibility of marginalised groups as respected voices in their fields. When people from marginalised or minority groups share career or financial accomplishment publicly, it also helps to inspire a younger generation. It always helps to see yourself represented in the industry.
On the other hand, after the initial rush of announcing a win on social media, it doesn’t take long for the dust to settle and that feeling to diminish. Once those feelings of instant gratification are gone, our instinct is often to search for the next affirmation, a habit that can be damaging to mental health. Most of the time, posting accomplishments is way that we, consciously or subconsciously, clamour for recognition when we think we’ve done something right. We want to be publicly seen as good. It begs the question: what are we really motivated by? Does announcement culture push us to strive for what we really want, or are we working towards ‘announceable’ goals for the sake of the public recognition?
Announcement culture on social media, as a product of capitalism, usually only comprises the ‘wins’. It paints an unrealistic picture of our lives on social media by only posting things worthy of announcing, cutting out the hardships. Looking at everyone else’s positive announcements can also cause us to search for the next thing to share in order to compete with everyone else’s good news.
So, What Should We Do?
Will we be able to tear ourselves away from the clutches of Announcement Culture? The truth is, probably not – at least right now. Humans are social creatures, and it’s normal to want attention, praise and validation from others.
But being more self-aware about how we participate in and drive announcement culture might help us to re-focus on our actual lives. Understanding what we share on social media, and why, is a good start for unpacking our need for social media gratification. Instead of posting to social media immediately, let’s shift to in-person conversations or phone calls with friends to let them know the good news first. Strengthening individual relationships outside of social media is one of the most important factors in a happy life. Finally, there’s no shame in delaying announcements until later! Our achievements are not less impressive just because we don’t inform the world immediately – break the announcement cycle, and take some time to bask in your good news.
