Emotional power in cyberspace: How does employees' use of social media influence their experiences of emotional labour and positions of power within t

The service industry, which includes sectors from retail to hospitality, is vital to the UK economy and accounted for 81% of the UK's total economic output in 2023 (Brien 2024). Retail is the biggest employer of the working youth. In the UK, one in eight retail employees are between the ages of 16-24, a Generation Z demographic (ONS 2023). Service workers are expected to display certain emotions towards customers whilst suppressing those deemed inappropriate by management, a concept known as 'emotional labour' (Hochschild 1983). As Gen Z retail workers report lower levels of job satisfaction (CIPD 2021), this generation of "digital natives" (McKinsey and Company 2023) appear to use social media platforms to defy the emotional performances expected of them in the workplace, a novel phenomenon yet to be explored in research. This qualitative netnographic study will investigate how Gen Z retail employees subvert the emotional conduct required of them on the frontline by examining their personal Tik Tok and Instagram posts about the sector. It will also explore the distributions of power between retail employees, customers and employers given that this emotionally-authentic social media content has the potential to disrupt / ESRC NINE DTP Postgraduate Studentship Nomination Form / Page 3 of 18 current understandings of power in service work. Attention is also given to how Gen Z retail employees navigate the consequences of publishing such material and the impact these posts have on their careers, health and wellbeing.