The role of the social media application Instagram for career choices of young adults Die Rolle der Social-Media-Anwendung Instagram bei der Berufswahlentscheidung von Jugendlichen

Choosing a career is one of the most fundamental decisions for young people, both personally and socially. The family, as well as practical experience, continue to be important influencing factors. At the same time, new studies indicate that media also plays a role that should not be underestimated when choosing a career. However, it is hardly known how young people currently use the media that is relevant to them. Given this, the article analyzes the role of the application “Instagram” for the career selection process of 14 students in the semi-qualifying vocational school (business). The study shows that career aspirations are not triggered by Instagram, but that particular career aspirations originate from practical experience and family environment. The results further show that young people use Instagram to collect information about their career aspirations and that Instagram above all reinforces the pupils’ career aspirations. Especially for adolescents with only a secondary school certificate, Instagram creates a reinforcing spiral, as postulated for example by the social-cognitive theory of Lent, Brown and Hackett (1994). The article concludes that young people in classroom have to be informed about this reinforcement function of specific media.