In a digital world smothered by pointless trends, rambunctious teenagers, and your average screaming goat, “quiet” is not how most describe the internet. And yet it keeps coming up.
With over 34 million videos posted a day on TikTok, the interweb has become home to endless amounts of noise. Yet, emerging from the depths, no longer does the term “quiet” represent silence, but rather, an act of rebellion.
Coined by Gen Z TikTok influencers, “quietness,” has slowly become used as an identifier to embracing stillness and introspection amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Especially in corporate America.
Posted Aug. 18, content creator Meg (@green.meggs.and.ham) shared her own personal experience with quietness in the workplace. Receiving over 184,900 views and 9,715 likes, the just 5-second video has made quite the statement.
Quiet nourishing
“Apparently employers are not happy that entitled millennials are now engaging in behavior known as ‘quiet nourishing,’” Meg titles the video.
Saying nothing else, Meg filmed her facial expressions while walking through the Walmart aisles.
“Quiet nourishing,” refers to when employees take anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour to enjoy a meal or quick snack before returning back to work. But many commenters were quick to call-out what this so-called disapproved action truly was.
“You mean my mandatory lunch break that keeps me from boycotting and quietly quitting my job?” One commenter asked, receiving over 1,808 likes.
“It’s literally insane that as soon as you become an employee, you aren’t entitled to basic human rights,” another added, gaining more than 300 likes.
While there is some truth in these statements, the Fair Labor Standards Act, mandates that employers must allow lunch breaks for their employees unless specified otherwise by state law. Meaning the rebellious undertones of quiet nourishing should come from doing so on paid-time rather than simply taking one’s mandated lunch break.
Though Meg’s video didn’t dive further in depth on employers’ frustrations of quiet nourishing, her comment section was flooded with personal confessions of workers who got in trouble, some even fired, for partaking in the act.
“I need quiet time to myself,” one commenter said. Summing up the entirety of the remarks.
The quiet revolution
Now this isn’t the first time the Daily Dot has heard of quietness in the workplace. “Quiet quitting,” is a trend that blew up summer ’22. The term refers to an employee’s choice to strive for average in the workplace and slowly disengage from their roles prior to leaving their position.
Roughly 64% of employees consider themselves to be “quiet quitters.” And to weed them out, 61% of HR professionals ask interviewees about their previous roles and its advantages and disadvantages.
“You are just a number to your employer,” one member of the movement stated.
@green.meggs.and.ham ♬ Hide CS01 – Ambient Rework – Eleftherios & GLO
All this to say, employees have taken to the internet to connect with one another and express their disadvantages in the workplace. As workers continue to “Act Their Wage,” or work to the level of what equates to their job, TikTok will continue being a home to their frustrations.
The Daily Dot reached out to Meg (@green.meggs.and.ham) via TikTok direct message for comment.
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