Why winning and sharing your victories in 'Wordle' helps you become part of a new elite of smart people

Tangy (spicy in Spanish).

That was the word in Wordle last Friday, January 14, 2022. It was the first time I managed to deduce a word (and in 3 attempts no more and no less!). Before that victory, I thought that it was an overrated game, probably because it was pretty bad up to that point.

Or maybe I was downplaying Wordle because she was an outsider who couldn't join my terrifyingly smart-seeming Twitter group.

If you don't know it yet, Wordle is the famous daily word game. You have 6 attempts to figure out the 5-letter word of the day, also known as the Wordle.

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If after inserting an attempt, one of the letters used is in the word, but you have placed it wrong, it will be marked in yellow. If you have put it in the right place, it will turn green. And the letters that have no place in the word turn gray and darken on the virtual keyboard of the game, so you do not have to memorize them.

The puzzle is simple, but complex, a combination that has captivated the internet during the beginning of the year. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Verge or Business Insider Spain, just to mention a few, have reported on this new sensation.

As journalist John Brandon said in Forbes, "Wordle is as if the Wheel of Fortune had a child with Scrabble."

While other digital games have achieved similar virality, such as Angry Birds or Candy Crush, Wordle has gained symbolic status as a mind game with mechanics that help you show others how smart you are.

It is the latest in the evolution known as subtle status symbols, which during the pandemic have gradually downplayed the relevance of material possessions and placed more emphasis on digital ones.

A new kind of status symbol

Part of the brilliance of Wordle is the ability to share the grid of up to 30 squares that appears once you complete the game. Its 3 colors (the aforementioned green, yellow and gray) reflect your journey to victory (or defeat).

This feature allows you to show your rights to feel cool through a chat with friends or via Twitter if you want a more public announcement.

Even celebrities are obsessed:

But you have to know what that grid means to understand the bragging of others. This process is known as discrete consumption.

It is a term coined by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett in her book The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of an Aspirational Class.

She uses it to describe how status symbols have morphed since the days of conspicuous consumption of objects like luxury handbags or supercars. These originate from the new rich that appeared during the Industrial Revolution and who used these items to mark their position.

But the highest 1% of the social pyramid has been consuming very few of these material goods since 2007. According to Currid-Halkett, there is an increasing focus on discreet wealth. "This new elite consolidates its status through the appreciation of knowledge as a prize and the construction of cultural capital."

This discreet consumption normally goes unnoticed among the social class, but it is noticed precisely by the elite. Currid-Halkett describes the relevance of this consumption in that it produces a kind of privilege that stunning luxury cannot create.

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She uses the color of Ballet Slippers nail polish, adopted by women of a certain social status in the 1990s, as an example. To an outsider, it's just pink, but to people-in-the-know, it means being part of an elite. Social.

Showing knowledge is a way of expressing said cultural capital. It gives the person the ability to climb the social ladder and make connections. "Discreet consumption offers social mobility," sums up Currid-Halkett.

Wordle grids convey cultural capital and knowledge

In pre-pandemic times, reading The New Yorker or carrying a branded bag on the subway was a way for the elite to demonstrate their cultural currency. It was the equivalent of saying "Hello, I am a world citizen who knows a lot, is aware of cultural trends, has refined taste, and money to buy a $100 magazine subscription."

But in the midst of a pandemic, these gestures no longer have the same value as before. As many workers with such knowledge work from home, there are fewer like-minded individuals coming and going around town who know how to interpret these clues.

And Wordle appears, expressing the same sentiment, but communicating in a place accessible to everyone: the internet. Of course, it's free so no one is investing money, but time, something Currid-Halkett previously revealed to Business Insider that the pandemic would turn into a modern commodity.

You also need internet access, and one in 4 households lacks it. You must also have critical thinking, and a broad lexicon to win. By displaying your results, you communicate the level of these skills. But you also need another Wordle player to give you credit, or at least be a reader of the posts they write about it.

Of course, Wordle doesn't just invite false modesty. Society is in its third year of the pandemic, in full omicron wave, and in hibernation mode. By that they mean: Wordle is a fun and challenging distraction that also helps counteract boredom. And it helps connect with others in times of isolation.

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That is why a connection with like-minded people.

I've resisted the urge to share my most impressive Wordle grids on Twitter (although that hasn't stopped me from bragging about them in this article). But when a couple of co-workers started sharing their results with each other, I got in on the action. At least then my Wordle score will mean something.