With the rise of the freelance economy, many young people's livelihoods have become dependent on their personal branding. From self-employed people in the media industries (creatives and graphic designers) to those in more 'traditional' roles (freelance accountants and mortgage brokers), having the right 'brand' as portrayed by the font on your website, the clients featured on your Instagram or the affability of your tone on Twitter can be a lucrative way of standing out in a fiercely competitive gig economy. This is even before we take into account the influencers and bloggers whose personal brand is literally their job. The choice of pictures, the 'correct' political beliefs and language used in captions can either send brands clamouring to invest in #sponcon with them or see them running for the hills. The rest of us who don't depend on social media for our livelihoods follow suit and, even though we don't necessarily need to, curate our own brand image to try and replicate the success we see in others.