“It was a sense of desperation caused by a lack of money”: Emotional insecurity and digital life strategies among young nenis

Abstract

The phenomenon of nenis (women who sell products through digital social networks) is a contemporary expression of job insecurity, deeply affected by gender inequalities, care economies, and emerging forms of informal digital work. Using ethnographic tools and seven in-depth interviews with young women (aged 22-32) engaged in this activity, they show that entry into this work responds to career paths interrupted by layoffs, motherhood, gender discrimination, and the inability to access decent formal jobs. Digital sales are sustained by a fragmented organization of time, where productive work overlaps with domestic care work, generating double and triple shifts. The digitization of work introduces new vulnerabilities such as platform dependency, algorithmic censorship, and competitive saturation. The research shows that this informal paid activity is simultaneously a survival strategy and a space for situated agency.