I was scrolling through Twitter the other day and noticed a phrase I'd never seen before but perfectly encapsulates where I think a lot has gone wrong. Weapon Outfitters, a shop I recommend a lot of the time and a killer photographer to boot, mentioned the phrase "Flex Culture" in the context of night vision and Instagram. The phrase has apparently been around for a while, but this was my first time seeing it and it's stuck with me every since. While there I noted that I’ve been in the NODs space ever since BE Meyers was kind enough to lease us space for a bit back in 2014-15, and it’s been nuts seeing the night vision market explode.We believe it was driven by Instagram and flex culture— WeaponOutfitters.com (@WeaponOutfitter) January 21, 2023 The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this phrase touches on the very problem affecting shooting community and many others- especially fitness. The "flex" is showing off equipment or activities to make someone look more impressive, especially when compared to "the poors." The issue of flex culture shows up in two ways that I think are directly harming us, and I want to talk about that and what we can do to combat it. FOMO and Gatekeepers The flex culture coin has two sides here. The first is marketing personalities who for whatever reason have amassed enough wealth that they can buy (or receive as samples) nearly anything they want. I call these the FOMO types. The others are a group of enthusiasts who try to establish themselves high in the hierarchy through the application of money rather than performance. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) This first group is your classic internet influencer. They go about showing off their toys on social media, particularly Instagram and YouTube, and start telling everyone else that they need to buy the "thing" or else you're going to be ineffective (at best) or die (at worst). It's not just the gun world, but also fitness, amateur radio, survival, or really anywhere there is money to be made from presenting a particular image. For folks who are relatively inexperienced, this drives a huge fear of missing out (FOMO). They don't know what they don't know, but the person they've come to trust is telling them they need something. So they make bad financial decisions and go into huge amounts of debt or put off investing in actual training that would serve them better than the latest "thing." Even worse is the influencers who lie about it. I see this a lot in the fitness space where shredded looking dudes make you think they got to where they are by doing silly exercises and eating a copious amount of broccoli, rice, and chicken. If you knew that they also took steady doses of steroids, then it ruins the image and message that "hard work and discipline are all you need to be like me." Gatekeepers Whereas I think many FOMO influencer types range from disingenuous to downright malicious, the other side of the coin is the gatekeepers. I have a real problem with gatekeepers. In nearly any community, especially online ones with some anonymity, you inevitably form hierarchies. All too often, the people at the top of the pyramid are those who give off the appearance of being the most committed or most talented. Since this is the internet and you never really get to know people personally, and proper vetting is difficult, it's easy to appear to be more capable by spending more money on ever more expensive equipment. They aim to be rather than do. Invariably, the gatekeepers seeking their position higher in the pecking o...