A cautionary tale for every American, social media is a horrible, new way to play status games. In my view, social media is always a losing "slot machine" for one's illusion of improved status in life.
As a human being, we all join and identify with groups. Our American society is an institution where a human being is either in the in-group or out-group of multiple tribes. All groups and tribes have rules of behavior to enable one's status game with subordinates, peers, and superiors. It is the human species' instinct to reward oneself and others when they prove he or she is of value. One's identity is seamless with humanity's status game. Human status is simply the pursuit of personal and group esteem (feeling important in the eyes of their subordinates, peers, and seniors).
The better we follow the rules in life, the higher one climbs in status as well as increased worsening of groupthink among the tribe. Curiously, as human beings, we are constantly measuring our status due to an evolutionary social connection, a "status detection system" hard-wired in our brains. This is because every human being loves belongingness and loves to be loved -- social media negatively exploits faux human connections for free.
We all unconsciously play multiple status games simultaneously -- such as the virtue status game (deference and respect); the success status game (value-added, competent warrior); and, the dominance status game (rank and giving orders). The consequences of not playing multiple status games on social media are directly proportional to insults; humiliation; assault on one's identity; and most importantly, one's lesser value and status in the group or tribe; or one committing suicide.
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As an American citizen, do you think it's a good idea to play virtual success/dominance/virtue status games online with groups and tribes? Remember, when playing any status game, you are making the unconscious conscious. The conscious experience of your life is your unconscious status game manifesting into your life's heroic story. Social media will never manifest one’s life heroic story.
The Brothers Grimm’s tale of woe: Social media’s illusionary "status game" enables the worst of human progress, damages advancement of science and technology, hampers new ideas, as well as corrupts progressive societal improvements of individual and collective human consciousness.
