Navigating Social Media as a Flight Attendant: Finding a Balance Between Transparency and Caution

So a question that I get asked pretty regularly is, are you afraid of getting in trouble with the negative things that you post on social media? And some people think that everything I post is negative. I personally think if you know me and you follow me and actually watch all my videos, you would realize I’m not that negative. People just interact with the negative content. I feel like just my negative content will pop up on their page. So they’ll be like, everything I’ve seen from you is just complaining all the time. But it’s like, I also talk about how much I love this job as well. And is it okay to have like complaints about your job? Yes, everyone has complaints about their job. So why are you coming at me for having complaints about my job? Am I afraid of getting in trouble? So yes and no. Like, it’s definitely something that’s always in the back of my head. Like my airline is definitely strict with their social media policy. Therefore, I don’t post in uniform and I don’t post that I work for any particular airline. That’s why I don’t post in uniform and I don’t for any particular airline because I don’t want to be associated with the brand. I think if I associated myself with the brand, I would more so subject myself to be pulled in and get in trouble. But because I don’t say I work for any brand, I’m just speaking on behalf of my experience without associating myself with any particular airline.

So also my airline in specific is union. We have a union and I have been blessed enough to meet multiple people that are in the union in my airline. I have one that works in like leaves and terminations. I have, you know, multiple people that I am friends with that I’ve met through my TikTok. And I always reach out to them whenever I’m feeling anxious or weird about the way my stuff is because I’m very careful. They’re like, no, like, you’re good.

Here’s our social media policy. I don’t think you invaded at all. Of course, I would let you know if, you know, you cross the boundary with the social media policy. But for now, I do think that you spread a good message about our working conditions. And if you wanna talk about pay and you wanna talk about everything like that, like you are allowed to, if you’re allowed to talk about working conditions. So the yes is yes, of course. That’s always something in the back of my mind because I love my job and I would never want anything to threaten my job. But the note is I feel very called to talk about the truth of our working conditions in this industry because it’s a blend of having a lack of sleep, a lack of pay and a huge amount of disrespect. So this helps a lot of different people.

No. 1, this helps people who want to become a flight attendant realize that they actually don’t want to be a flight attendant and that it’s not worth it for them. There’s still hundreds of thousands of people that still want to be a fight attendant after seeing the content. But some people are like, destiny, your video really saved me a lot of time because I don’t think that’s the job for me. I’m like, good. I’m glad I saved your time.

No. 2, this helps current flight attendants feel seen, and it helps spread awareness about our working conditions and mental health and all of those things. I just, yesterday someone sent me a Facebook post from a flight attendant only group. Like they asked a bunch of flight attendant related questions before you get in there.

This guy title that like, oh, sh, they’re looking for you. I’m like, who’s looking for me? What do you mean? And I click on it and I’m so nervous. I thought I was like gonna get cancelled or dragged or something.

This girl wrote this kind post about me about how like every time I post a video, she has full undivided attention because I am so transparent and vulnerable. And she said my content is 12 out of 10. And she feels like we would be best friends in real life. And I got into this group just to go comment on this post. And this post was filled with comments that were like, yes, she’s so transparent. Like she speaks for all of us. And I was like, thank you so much. And she was like, seriously, like you spread awareness on, you spread awareness for all of us. And that makes my heart so happy that like I make other flight attendants feel seen and feel heard. And I don’t know, I feel like this industry is so glamorized.

So for us to have each others back and be like, girl, you struggling, I’m struggling, you struggling, I’m struggling, like we’re together in this, you know? It really makes people feel a lot less alone and it creates this really cool inclusive community of like, we’re out here struggling.

No. 3 helps from a passenger standpoint for passengers to have more compassion for us on a day to day basis, understanding our pay, mental health conditions, our working conditions and seeing the way people disrespect us on a daily basis helps passengers have way more compact question for us.

The amount of passengers that comment on my stuff and they’re like, I had no idea that you guys go through this. I have no idea this is a pay. I had no idea this. It really helps spread awareness and realness. So yes, I never wanna threaten my job or get in trouble for anything. But also I feel called to speak about the truth. It’s the truth. It’s just the truth. And I feel called to speak about it because not a lot of people feel comfortable speaking about it because they’re afraid to get in trouble.

A lot of my friends that post in uniform are like, , I regret posting in uniform cuz now I wish I could be more transparent, but I can’t. Because when you post a uniform, you’re consenting to be cutesy. Little ladybug, live, laugh, love, like you have to be cutesy. You’re not gonna post in uniform and then post a bunch of complaints or like negative things because you’ll get pulled in so fast cuz you’re associating yourself with the brand. But for me, from the beginning, I never posted in uniform.