Super-signalling

The act of signalling exclusivity or secrecy, even when there’s no substantial reason. It mimics in-group dynamics to create a heightened sense of importance, often leaving outsiders feeling excluded, even when the content is trivial.

Super-signalling can be thought of as a kind of unintentional gaslighting. The term comes from the 1938 play Gas Light, where a man drives his wife to the brink of insanity by gradually dimming the lights in their apartment while pretending that nothing has changed.

Super-signalling operates similarly, although more subtly. There’s really nothing there, yet our very human Fear Of Missing Out is triggered. While gaslighting is deliberate, super-signalling is often unconscious—those engaging in it are likely unaware of the (super) signals they’re transmitting.

The behaviour is rampant on social media. Vague status updates, cryptic tweets, or ‘stories’ that hint at something significant without revealing any details are the digital equivalent of those whispered huddles. They tap into our instinct to belong, leaving us wondering what we’ve missed.

The same is true for airy corporate slides with conspicuous stamps of saying “CONFIDENTIAL,” when it’s apparent that they contain little of substance.

Or scientific presentations where heavy smoke screens of technical jargon obscure the fact that the subject being studied is actually quite inconsequential.

As Gertrude Stein once quipped: “There’s no there there.”