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Introduction and context
Scholars in business and management, as with the other social sciences, are trained to be critical thinkers and analytic debate is seen as a key mechanism for the advancement and development of knowledge. Early career researchers develop their skills by critically engaging with the work of colleagues and learning how to scrutinise this work in order to create new arguments that are based on extant theory and literature but offer new ways of looking at the world. However, the growing use of social media fundamentally alters the norms of knowledge creation and evaluation by propelling concepts into common parlance instantaneously, evading the routes that academics have used for decades to ensure the robust process of knowledge and theory creation and development.
One example of a concept going “viral” is the term “Quiet Quitting”, which gained popularity from a TikTok video post in July 2002 by @zkchillin (now @zaidleppelin). The term “Quiet Quitting” was originally created by the economist Mark Boldger in 2008 to explain changes in the attitudes of the workforce. However, the term only gained popularity after the dissemination of the TikTok video. The basic philosophy of Quiet Quitting focuses on the creation of clear work/life boundaries, with the employee undertaking the minimun requirments of the job, thus in theory, prioritising wellbeing (Taper, 2022).
Another, media-popular employemt concept is “The Great Resignation”. The term “Great Resignation” was coined by Anthony Klotz, an Associate Professor in Management at University College London, in May 2021, predicting a mass departure from jobs. Importantly, Koltz predicted the Great Resignation based on a belief that the autonomy afforded by homeworking during the pandemic would lead to a meaningful shift in the desires and actions of the labour force (Morgan, 2021). It should be noted however, the notion of the Great Resignation was based on prediction rather than on theory and empirical data.
In December 2021, 4.3 million Americans left their jobs which Robert Reich (2021) stated as being affirmation of the “Great Resignation” and a modern “general strike.” However, there is little real evidence for Reich's inflated claim of such a mass exodus or protest – in the USA at least. There was a large increase, in people voluntarily leaving their jobs in the USA in...