NEW YORK — Amy Sacco waited for months to hear back after applying for a coveted nursing job in San Francisco.
When she was finally hired in April, Sacco shared the good news on Instagram and Facebook. Her post was inundated with congratulations, likes and emoji love.
“I was super excited and proud of myself,” says Sacco, a nurse at the UC-San Francisco medical center’s cancer unit. “I actually got the most likes on that one post than I think I’ve ever gotten before.”
It’s no secret people love to share good job news on social media. Thousands of Americans post about new jobs ever day. The hashtag #newjob has become a popular trend.
And that makes sense. Hiring has been strong in recent months. Last year was the best year for job growth in America since 1999. On Friday, the Labor Department will give the latest figures on how many jobs were created in May. CNNMoney’s survey of economists predicts 222,000 jobs added.
But men and women share their “I got a new job!” announcements in slightly different ways.
Men post, women ‘gram: Women tend to share their job news via Instagram much more than men. About two-thirds of the Instagram #newjob posts in May were made by women, according to an analysis by Sysomos, a social media analytics firm, for CNNMoney.
Sacco and other women say they like Instagram’s visual appeal. It’s mostly photos with little text.
Men are more likely to take to Twitter and Facebook because they say the platforms offer practicality. Over half a million people used Facebook or Twitter in May to talk about jobs, Salesforce.com found when it tracked the hashtag #newjob.
That doesn’t mean all those people found a job. Some use the #newjob hashtag because they’re looking for the next gig. But it’s another good sign for the economy that more and more people are talking about their new jobs.
Friday’s jobs report from the government is the official gauge about the economy, but social media data is becoming a popular measure of Americans’ outlook on everything from jobs and wages to spending and savings. It could one day help businesses and governments better understand the state of the economy.
The economic outlook has improved for Sacco and Katie Meehan.
A former teacher, Meehan wanted a change of pace this spring. After teaching high schoolers in Florida and working in communications in New York City, Meehan found a full-time job at Bark Baby Bark, a high-end dog care company in Manhattan. A big animal lover, Meehan let all her friends know about her first client, Montauk, a bulldog.
Something to celebrate: “It’s easier to post on Instagram, it’s quick and simple” says Meehan. “I got a couple of text messages from friends saying ‘I can’t believe you’re working with dogs. This is amazing.'”
But for men, Facebook is their go-to medium for job news. Derek Falcone shared his job news on Facebook because it’s the most efficient way to reach a large number of people, especially ones he doesn’t talk to all the time.
Falcone will be a research scientist at the SABIC, an international chemical and fertilizer company. He’s about to graduate from the University of Virginia with a Ph.D in chemical engineering.
When Falcone posted about his first “big boy” job in Houston on Facebook, an old friend reached out to say he’s living in Houston. They plan to reconnect this summer.
“I never would’ve known that this person was moving there unless he reached out to me on social media,” says Falcone.
