Social media is the primary cause of unrealistic expectations in regards to one’s wealth and quality of life. The influence of social media on its users’ everyday lives is a significant problem of the current age. People of different communities and social statuses are able to observe the details of others’ lifestyles. Consequently, users are influenced by popular culture, which dictates that wealth is easily accumulated in the current economic environment. This paper examines why social media is becoming a tool to construct unreasonable expectations through an examination of relevant literary sources. In order to support the discussion, the present work relies on three primary arguments. First of all, social media utilizes the potential of the Internet, glamorizing the idea of easy wealth in the sphere of self-employment (Stokes & Price, 2017). According to such principles, digital capitalism presents immense opportunities to earn more with even fewer efforts. Second, the presentation of the ideas promoted in social media suggests that it is an axiom rather than a possibility (Russo & Simeone, 2017). It is stated that wealth is a guaranteed norm with a sufficient attitude. Finally, social media posts rely on the examples of prominent figures who have accumulated their wealth rather quickly (Tiggemann & Anderberg, 2017). However, none of these resources address the additional factors, which may have contributed to the process and which an average user may lack. As the topic is controversial, opposing views are to be considered, as well. Today’s digitalized capitalist economy is said to be a favorable environment for private entrepreneurship and freelance markets. This sphere possesses immense opportunities in terms of personal wealth accumulation (Van der Zwan et al., 2020). Next, this idea’s proponents state that they acknowledge the possibility rather than impose the necessity of a certain lifestyle (Balkeran, 2020). While these points may have merit, further findings suggest that the promotion of unrealistic ideas is related to the social media sphere rather than the natural economic processes. The existence of digital opportunities does not eliminate the possibility of failure or other non-favorable outcomes, including stress and burnout, posing additional impediments to success (Valcour, 2016). The examined “hustle culture” discourse is rather imposing in nature, as it suggests the superior status of self-employment and wealth. As such, the influence of social media on unrealistic financial expectations of individuals appears considerable. Proper investigation of topics presented requires an understanding of the main terms and ideas discussed. First of all, it is necessary to outline that the working definition of “social media” for this research is derived from Duffett (2017), who states that social media pertains to the applications and systems based on Web 2.0. As for the notion of unrealistic expectations, it refers to the person’s lack of ability to critically ascertain the possibility of certain outcomes (Heidhues et al., 2018). Finally, “hustle culture” is described by Sessions et al. (2020) as the dedication towards work. This phenomenon is evident in the individuals’ constant involvement in professional tasks. Discussion of Sources Balkeran, A. (2020). Hustle culture and the implicat