Mythologies of Creative Work in the Social Media Age: Fun, Free, and “Just Being Me”

Over the past decade, work in the cultural sector has grown evermore precarious amid heightened competition, rampant insecurity, and the individualization of risk. Despite this, social media personalities—including bloggers, vloggers, and Instagrammers—seem to have attained a much-vaunted career dream: They get paid to do what they love. Accounting for this disparity, we highlight the role of popular media discourses that hype the possibilities...