There was a line from the old Counting Crows song "Mr. Jones" that always stuck with me: "When I look at the television, I want to see me, staring right back at me"

Social media took that longing for the validation of celebrity status and democratized it.

But not enough.

Before social media, you were either a mega-celebrity or not a celebrity at all. It was Brad Pitt or nothing. But now many thousands of people can be an Instagram Influencer or a Twitter Bluecheck: a minor celebrity with a taste of fame.

But social media also democratized celebrity in a second way. I stead of being granted by gatekeepers like Hollywood studios or record labels, micro-celebrity status on Instagram or Twitter is disintermediated. And that means constant competition for the micro-celebrity spots.

In his classic blog post "Status as a Service", Eugene Wei noted that the constant quest for micro-celebrity status is what keeps many people glued to social media. https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service

But this also gives rise to a great deal of resentment. Tons of people HATE "influencers" and "bluechecks".

Social media has made it so *anyone* can be a micro-celebrity, but not *everyone*.

People who lust after micro-celebrity status often despise micro-celebrities, because they correctly realize that there's usually nothing qualitatively different between us and them. Most of us weren't more beautiful or brilliant, we just got lucky finding a niche.

There are tons of people with smarter takes and more knowledge than me who will never have 1/10 of the following I have, partly because I spent too much time in this site, partly because I got lucky, and partly (probably) for other reasons no one including me will ever know.

The unfairness and randomness of the micro-celebrity economy stirs constant resentment that keeps people glued to Twitter (don't know about Instagram because I don't use it), striving to become micro-celebrities themselves, or to knock existing micro-celebrities from their perch.

This is what I call Status Anxiety as a Service. Twitter and other social networks have monetized the resentment of celebrities and the lust for fame in ways that Hollywood or record labels could never have dreamed of.

Keeping Up with the Mr. Joneses.

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