Influence of Digital Platforms on Normalizing Hustle Culture Among Youth

Digital platforms like social media are a result of the digital revolution,where communication and information spread quickly unlike before, which are used as instruments to normalize hustle culture among youth – encouraging youth to increase their productivity beyond their limit in order to “succeed”. The digital revolution – as modern capitalism – is the ‘fifth’ industrial revolution, reflected by the digitalization of economy and society, one of which is social media as a medium to spread information vastly (Knell, 2021). Hustle culture is characterized by a workaholic culture driven by demanding productive environment (e.g., joining organizations, building business, learning new skills, etc) that lead individuals to prioritize those works, ignore resting times, and believe that professionalism requires hard work without time limitations (Assariy et al., 2024).  Thus, the question is ‘how do digital platforms create hegemonic common sense to drive hustle culture among youth?’.

This article uses Antonio Gramsci’s view on ‘cultural hegemony’ : the dominant cultural worldview in the capitalistic society has created common sense, which is accepted by the majority (Wheatman, 2024). Gramsci argued that the elite’s worldview is reflected in major societal institutions (in this case : internalization through digitalization), which make their perspective something that is common. Consequently, alternatives to the status quo seem unrealistic and threatening.

Digital platforms are used as mediums to internalize hustle culture among youth through content or even by looking at their relatives’ posts regarding how extra-productive they are – making some youth feel they are not making good progress toward being successful. As cited in a study, platforms like productivity apps, motivational content, and ever-updating digital performance expectations make the line between personal and work performance blurred (Kumar, 2024 as cited in Silvastiani, 2025). It must be noted that digital platforms have been accelerating the dissemination of information (Ashilla, 2024). Also, amidst the competitive job markets, social media must be utilized by young people to manage their digital identity (Admin DBSMB, 2025) What does this mean? When someone creates ‘inspirational content’ to represent their identity on digital platforms, it spreads vastly, then it starts to inspire more youths, then more and more people are encouraged to do the same thing or in other words : reproducing the same content again and again; which then becomes ‘common sense’. Hence, digital platforms catalyze the formation of the ‘common sense’ through norms reproduction by the youth itself, resulting from a competitive environment.

Additionally, interview students aged 17 to 20 years old have been conducted to understand the impact of the normalized hustling behavior through digitalization. All interviewees agree that digital tools have helped them to do their job efficiently, but then 24/7 connectivity also erases the barrier between leisure and work. There are three key results regarding their experience amidst normalized hustle culture. First, platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram as the primary drivers of peer pressure, where titles are visible become the sole metrics of students’ success. This creates Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and also a desire for validation in order to fit into the status quo. Second, internalized anxiety amidst competitive job markets: the digital revolution eliminates jobs that can be replaced by Artificial Intelligence and technologies – creating anxiety that it will be very hard to find a job, which then means youth must have a selling point by increasing their productivity (which then neglects their rest times). Third, the guiltiness of inactivity amidst the normalized hustling behavior. Some students who choose not to join multiple organizations are culturally coded as kupu-kupu which stands for kuliah-pulang-kuliah-pulang. This term has been mentioned a lot on social media, which encourages youth to take multiple activities rather than being labeled as kupu-kupu.

Now, the question is how are the elites benefiting from creating this ‘common sense’? According to Ashilla (2024), executives, superiors, and company owners manipulate this lifestyle as the ‘right path’ to success. Hustle culture through communication digitalization encourages youth to be extra hard-working and gain as much knowledge and experience as possible. Through this culture, the elites will then be able to find the best human resources which will then increase their institutions’ or companies’ productivity, and generate more incentives.

Taking everything into account, digital platforms normalize hustle culture among youth by internalizing values on how young people should be. The usage of social media in managing digital identity amidst competitive job markets determines the reproduction of this norm. Using the Gramscian framework, the status quo (i.e., capitalistic society) creates common sense where ‘it is normal to be busy rather than being kupu-kupu and you will get nothing but jobless, especially amidst competitive job markets’. This benefited the bourgeoisie class so that they will be able to get the best human resources and increase their productivity to gain the best result.

References

Admin DBSMB. (2024). Menyiapkan Karier di era digital: Peran media sosial bagi mahasiswa – http://Dbsmb.Sv.ugm.ac.id/. Ugm.Ac.Id. https://dbsmb.sv.ugm.ac.id/menyiapkan-karier-di-era-digital-peran-media-sosial-bagi-mahasiswa

Ashilla, F. Y. (2024). Krisis Kecemasan Dengan Hustle Culture Pada Mahasiswa. UGM.ac.id. https://etd.repository.ugm.ac.id/penelitian/detail/247185

Knell, M. (2021). The digital revolution and digitalized network society. Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, 2(1), 9–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43253-021-00037-4

Muhammad Zahran Assariy, Nastiti Imaniar Hersari, Nathanael Amadeo Sitorus, Samsul Arifin, & Faisal, F. (2024). Literature review: The influence of hustle culture on mental health. AIP Conference Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0201952

Silvastiani, C. (2025). Normalizing psychological pressure in hustle culture: Transforming work identity and pursuing constant productivity in the digital economy. Community : Pengawas Dinamika Sosial, 11(2), 134–148. https://doi.org/10.35308/jcpds.v11i2.14056

Wheatman, D. (2024, September 13). Hustle culture: Cultural hegemony in action. Careers Done Write. https://careersdonewrite.com/blog/hustle-culture-cultural-hegemony-in-action