Work Life Hell in Finnish Social Media Discussions

Abstract

This article investigates social media discussions regarding a hellish work life. Relevant blogs and discussion chains are analysed in light of characteristics captured from theological models and interpretations of hell. Although the term ‘hell’ is used colloquially as a metaphor and swear word, this paper demonstrates that classical theological views on hell can shed new light on different aspects of work life. Identifying the classical meanings and traditional features of hell aids in recognising and analysing relevant features of a hellish work life, including the irreversible, hopeless, penalising and (pre)determined nature of hell. The social media content analysed comes from Finnish-language discussion platforms, electronic journals published online and blogs. All social media content and discussions analysed refer explicitly to work life as a hell, indicating sources of job dissatisfaction and occupational stress. Correspondingly, job satisfaction is approached in this study from the perspective of employees’ attitudes to and feelings about the social reality that they perceive in their workplace. According to the results, the key features making one’s work life hellish are the experiences of being mistreated by a boss or workmate and the related feeling of helplessness.