Donnalyn Bartolome draws netizens’ ire over “toxic positivity” of back-to-work post
YouTube content creator Donnalyn Bartolome doesn’t understand how any person could be sad about returning to work after the Christmas holidays. As far as she is concerned, having a job is a blessing and that workers need to change their “mindset” because it’s the start of a new year.
In her Facebook post dated January 3, 2023, Bartolome wrote: “Bakit may sad dahil back to work na? Diba dapat masaya ka kasi may chance ka na pagandahin buhay mo at ng pamilya? Trip ko pa nga may work ng January 1 dahil superstition ko may work ako buong taon pag ganun. Dapat grateful kasi may work. If work makes you unhappy, I hope you find a job that will. Yung pakikiligin ka and sheet 🥹 Anyway, this is just a reminder that having a job is a blessing bessss change mindset, it’s 2023!! 🤍 — 
feeling lucky.”
Netizens did not appreciate this piece of unsolicited advice from an Internet personality who earns “millions” from her YouTube channel. They called her “tone-deaf” and “out-of-touch” for turning a blind eye to average worker’s daily struggles, such as soul-crushing commutes, low wages, and overwork. “Toxic positivity” is what many netizens described Bartolome’s attitude to going back to the grind without acknowledging other people’s struggles.
This was not the first time that Bartolome found herself in hot water. In July 2022, Bartolome was slammed by netizens for allegedly sexualizing innocence by posing provocatively in baby garments for a baby-themed photoshoot. A month later, she once again drew flak for purportedly “romanticizing poverty” by holding a “kanto”-themed birthday party.
