Most academics are quite disparaging of self-branding. They argue that practitioners remake themselves as products to be sold to large corporations, that they rely on an imaginary sense of what employers might want, and that they sully personal feelings and relationships with market forces. Self-branding, while widely taken up in the tech scene, is inherently contradictory. It promotes both "authenticity" and business-targeted self-presentation. This incongruity creates tension and stress for practitioners, who must engage in emotional labor and self-surveillance to ensure an appropriate branded persona.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 420