Class signaling

Here’s a series of posts I made, based on an original post by the lovely Shae Ashbury.

Original Post

2019: there’s no place like home 2020: there’s no place but home

My Retweet

So accurate. All I wanted in 2019 was a few consecutive weeks in my apartment. Now, I'm all but begging to return to my jet setting lifestyle.

My reflection

I want to talk about class signaling. When I wrote this retweet, rather than talking about my love for travel, or say, missing my trips to NY, I talked about my 'jet setting lifestyle.' Instead of being authentic, I tried to project an image of myself.

Yes, Twitter is partially a marketing platform for me. But as I engage with you all more authentically, I want to use my tweets to practice and share my values. And one of my values is not using class signaling to gain social standing.

As I work on this sort of behavior in my personal life, I find it all too easy to engage in it on Twitter. Why is that?

Well, certainly a handful of insecurities and imposter syndrome. But I think my motivation is bigger than that. As a companion, I want long dates. Not because I want lots of money (though that's true) or to go on adventures (though that's also true).

It's mainly because my goal as a companion is to develop meaningful, long-term relationships that soothe, heal, and empower my clients.

One of the main models of signaling this sort of spawling, adventurous relationship in SW marketing is class signaling. And personally, I don't want to participate in it anymore.

So I'm calling myself out, and making a commitment. While I may have an authentic affinity for things that code as high-class, I commit to talking about them from my personal experience, rather than trying to project an image of myself.

Mara BlakeApril 27, 2020