Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change

by W. David Marx

Mass culture also gains new strength through network effects. The more people participate in a convention, the more useful it will be for interacting and communicating with others. Watching caber toss tournaments may afford individual distinction, but the previous night’s Patriots game works better for office small talk. Mass culture offers the gratification of solidarity—as Baudelaire mused, “The pleasure of being in a crowd is a mysterious expression of delight in the multiplication of number.” There was a special power in 72,000 people singing Queen songs in unison at Wembley Stadium during the 1985 Live Aid concert. And importantly, once an entire community takes up a convention, it transforms into a powerful symbol of the group’s identity.