I Quit! viral resignation:People's Insights Volume 2, Issue 39
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I Quit! Viral resignation People’s Insights: Volume 2, Issue 39 Reputation | Employee Engagement | Citizenship
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This week, we distill insights around I Quit viral resignation - millennial Marina Shifrin quit her job at a Taiwanese animation company by posting a video on YouTube, which got picked up by Gawker.com and immediately went viral. For more about I Quit, visit: http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com/peoplesinsights/i-quit-viral-resignation-peoples-insights-volume-2-issue-39/ 100+ thinkers and planners within MSLGROUP share and discuss inspiring projects on reputation, employee engagement and citizenship on the MSLGROUP Insights Network. Every week, we pick up one project and do a deep dive into conversations around it -- on the MSLGROUP Insights Network itself but also on the broader social web -- to distill insights and foresights. We share these insights with you on our People’s Insights blog and compile the best insights from the network and the blog in the People’s Insights Quarterly Magazine, as a showcase of our capabilities. We have further synthesized the insights to provide foresights for business leaders and changemakers — in the ten-part People’s Insights annual report titled Now & Next: Ten Frontiers for the Future of Engagement, now available as a Kindle eBook. For more, see: http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com/future-of-engagement
Transcript of I Quit! viral resignation:People's Insights Volume 2, Issue 39
I Quit! Viral resignation
People’s Insights: Volume 2, Issue 39
Reputation | Employee Engagement | Citizenship
What is I Quit?
Source: Dailystar.co.uk
In September 2013, millennial Marina Shifrin quit her job at a Taiwanese animation company by posting a video on YouTube. The video was picked up by Gawker.com and immediately went viral, sparking a global online debate. Her employers responded with a letter to Gawker and a parody video to showcase their point of view and announce that they had a job vacancy.
16 million views in 2 months
Source: Dailystar.co.uk
Shifrin’s video shows her dancing in her office at 4:30am, while working the midnight shift, to Kanye West’s Gone. Her video received 16 million views and 18,000+ comments within two months.
People’s response to the video
Many people applauded Shifrin’s initiative to quit a job she was unhappy in, Some people also shared the same dissatisfaction with their jobs and identified themselves with her.
Others didn’t approve the decision to quit, and wondered why Shifrin didn’t contribute to a solution at the company.
She's got my support. Some are so quick to bash her, but people deal with some crazy, illogical, psychological crap on a job, and I can only imagine the narcissism she put up with, the office egos, the feeling of oppression and having your talents squandered, and even the disgust at watching a company deteriorate because of poor management and ethics. Dance on, Marina!
YouTube user Blackbyrd
‘Is it okay to quit in such a public manner?’
The video also inspired discussion around personal branding and the eternal memory of the internet. Comments focused around the question ‘Is it okay to quit in such a public manner?’
A YouTube user noted that in a world driven by the number of views and clicks, this video demonstrates Shifrin’s understanding of the medium and makes her a talent worth hiring.
Initial backlash towards the employer
Source: Gawker.com
The video inspired a lot of backlash towards Shifrin’s employer Next Media Animation (NMA), and brought up people’s perception of Asian employers as sweatshop drivers. These responses actually moved the company to respond and share their side of the story.
Employer’s quick response and Q & A session
NMA’s Mark Simon responded to the video with a letter to Gawker, and by publishing their own video – a quick three days after the original video was posted. He spoke well of Shifrin, and sought to clarify some of the concerns raised by viewers across the globe.
In addition - he invited people to ask their questions on Gawker and answered them in the comments.
Impact of the response
Source: bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24394754
NMA’s quick response, openness to discuss the issue further and continued respect for Shifrin ensured a lot of support from the web population. NMA also reportedly received 100 applications to the position vacated by Shifrin.
Working in a different cultural environment
Both videos encouraged discussion around the cultural differences involved in working in a different country.
What happened to Marina?
Source: Daily News.com
Shifrin became an instant web celebrity, and was invited to share her experience on TheHuffington Post and on The Queen LatifahShow. Shifrin was offered a job by Queen Latifah, but appears to have turned it down. According to her social channels, Shifrin is pursuing her dream to become a comedian.
Was this a PR stunt?
Source: Times.com
Several people joked about the authenticity of the videos, some said that it would have made for a very successful PR stunt.
TIME magazine’s Laura Stampler wrote:
“Shifrin’s video accumulated almost 8.5 million views in only four days, while Next Media animation’s respo is up to 500,000 in just one. The whole thing makes us wonder, was this all some sort of viral marketing scheme? Does that puppet master Jimmy Kimmelhave anything to do with this?”
Millennials & Personal Branding
Source: blogs.wsj.com
Some people wondered if the buzz around “millennial workers” was responsible for boosting the viral reach of Shifrin’s video. Indeed, the video did spark some reflection on millennial attitudes and personal branding.
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