18 August

I often say as a culture we live inside social media. Here’s a direct example. I saw this on a Tesla group. Notice how people literally curate their ‘real-life’ experiences to match how they see things on social media platforms, like Instagram. All deliberately staged, like a marketing photo shoot. It’s not just how the person took the pictures, they lived the camping time itself as if they were inside an Instagram post, imitating it in every detail. And then shared it, which is where the rivalry in ‘imitative rivalry’ comes from. ‘Here’s my experience, look how good it is.’ Rene Girard said imitative rivalry is the root of all culture. You’re looking at it, and through social media it’s now endemic. For those who might contrast this with ‘real’ camping, I posted before how it’s even *more* obsessed with imitative rivalry. With having the right gear, how the gear and the vehicles compete with each other for status. And competing for the most authentic experience of ‘the great outdoors’, and for the most hard to access or least used sites etc. All a pissing contest. It’s Ken and Barbie play sets, for grown ups, the exact same behaviour. Kids wanting the latest GI Joe or Barbie toy, but now with vehicles and camping gear. And this is now all of life - cycling is the same. Fashion. Music. Watches. Phones. Etc. All imitative rivalry, all magnified by our social media bubble worlds.