TY  - JOUR
T1  - Setting Out Unwillingly: A Qualitative Analysis of the ‘Career Drift’  Experience Through Social Media Narratives
TT  - İstemeden Yola Çıkmak: “Kariyer Sürüklenmesi” Deneyiminin Sosyal Medya Anlatıları Üzerinden Niteliksel Analizi
AU  - Boğazlıyan, Emre Emrullah
PY  - 2025
DA  - August
Y2  - 2025
DO  - 10.26466/opusjsr.1698452
JF  - OPUS Journal of Society Research
JO  - OPUS JSR
PB  - İdeal Kent Yayınları
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 2791-9862
SP  - 798
EP  - 809
VL  - 22
IS  - 4
LA  - en
AB  - This study examines the increasingly visible phenomenon of "career drift" in the context of 21st-century work life, characterized by uncertainty, fragility, and flexibility, through the lens of social media narratives. Employing a qualitative research design, the study analyzed 120 publicly available posts collected from Twitter (now X) and Ekşi Sözlük using purposive sampling. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes: externally driven career orientation, occupational meaninglessness and identity ambiguity, permanence of temporary solutions, digital lamentation and narrative coping, and reorientation and deferred future construction. The findings reveal that users often make career choices based on coincidences, economic constraints, or environmental pressures, and experience significant ruptures in terms of meaning, identity, and belonging in these decisions. It was also observed that individuals express these experiences on social media through humor, irony, and a critical tone, using these platforms as a form of emotional coping. The study emphasizes the need to conceptualize career drift within a distinct theoretical framework and offers structural recommendations for career counseling practices and vocational guidance services.
KW  - Career drift
KW  - life narrative
KW  - digital narratives
KW  - career counseling
N2  - Bu çalışma, 21. yüzyılın belirsizlik, kırılganlık ve esneklikle tanımlanan iş yaşamı bağlamında giderek görünür hâle gelen “kariyer sürüklenmesi” olgusunu sosyal medya anlatıları üzerinden incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Nitel araştırma desenine göre yapılandırılan araştırmada, Twitter (X)  ve Ekşi Sözlük platformlarından kamuya açık 120 paylaşım amaçlı örnekleme yoluyla toplanmış; elde edilen veriler tematik analiz yöntemiyle çözümlenmiştir. Analizler sonucunda beş ana tema ortaya çıkmıştır: kontrol dışı mesleki yönelim, mesleki anlamsızlık ve kimlik belirsizliği, geçici çözümün kalıcılaşması, dijital serzeniş ve anlatısal başa çıkma, yeniden yönelme ve geç gelecek kurgusu. Bulgular, bireylerin kariyer tercihlerini çoğu zaman rastlantısal, ekonomik ya da çevresel zorunluluklara bağlı olarak gerçekleştirdiğini ve bu tercihlerde anlam, kimlik ve aidiyet eksenli ciddi kırılmalar yaşadıklarını göstermektedir. Ayrıca bireylerin sosyal medya üzerinden bu deneyimlerini mizah, ironi ve eleştirel dille dışavurdukları ve bu mecraları bir tür duygusal başa çıkma alanı olarak kullandıkları gözlemlenmiştir. Çalışma, kariyer sürüklenmesi kavramının özgün bir kuramsal çerçeveye kavuşturulması gerektiğini vurgulamakta ve kariyer psikolojik danışmanlığı uygulamaları ile mesleki yönlendirme hizmetlerine ilişkin yapısal öneriler sunmaktadır.
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UR  - https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1698452
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/4866213
ER  -