Clicks & Clout: How We Seek Status In the Digital Age

Life, put simply, is all about status. I recently read W. David Marx’s book Status and Culture —thanks Bryce Ferguson for the rec—and that fact was my clear takeaway. The book subtly changed how I look at the world; when you start to pay attention, status dictates nearly everything in our lives.

In the book, Marx argues that:

1. There is no human soci

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That’s where status comes in.

instead of seeking to maximize status — which some of us still do — more of us find ourselves seeking safety and context online instead.

Quantified status also drives entire industries. Influencer marketing is a $24B market growing quickly. The industry is built on status associations. We see this clearly in the 2010s rise of “the lifestyle influencer”—lifestyles are the most obvious markers of status, and the influencer economy is built on aspiration .

Now that digital ownership is exploding by way of NFTs, people are seeing bigger financial and status opportunities online than offline. This is the biggest catalyst for living online we’ve seen to date. Individuals are building status and identity in the virtual world the way that they do in the physical world. Why own a Gucci bag to impress a few... See more