Social Media and Youth Identity Formation: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective from the Social Sciences

Abstract

The rapid expansion of digital work environments has reshaped labor practices globally, while for women in India, this shift has generated a silent crisis. Whereas work-from-home (WFH) was initially celebrated as a flexible model, it has instead blurred the boundaries between professional obligations and unpaid domestic duties, creating a condition of constant digital availability. This paperdeals with how the absence of legally protected Right to Disconnect disproportionately affects women by eroding their mental well-being, their autonomy, and avenues for socio-economic upward mobility.

The dissolution of spatial and temporal boundaries separating home and work processes reinforces the expectations of a patriarchal system within which women are expected to bear a triple burden: paid work, unpaid domestic work, and digital emotional management. This has engendered severe mental distress: burnout, anxiety, a reduction in self-esteem, and reduced career visibility. In turn, physical workspaces provide more clearly defined boundaries, structured routines, social support, professional acknowledgment, and protection mechanisms that might be sought out in digital workspaces. Moreover, there is also a digital divide that makes WFH impractical and inequitable for women from low-income, rural, or otherwise marginalized backgrounds.

This paper argues that the recognition of the Right to Disconnect is a necessary labour reform and an imperative human right to protect the dignity, psychological integrity, and economic participation of women. It advocates for gender-responsive labour policies, digital safety norms, mental-health-centric governance, and workplace cultures that respect women's autonomy over time and their bodies. The paper locates women's mental health within the broader discourse on human rights and digital work in a vision of the future where technology empowers women rather than overwhelms them, and workplaces-physical or digital-become sites of equality, safety, and well-being.