This idea that everyone is at the top of a different status ladders appears to be the same basic thesis as the essay "Melancholy of Subculture Society" written by Gwern [1], which fleshes out the idea further and presents this as an ever-powerful force in the world driven by the Internet. I'm not sure I agree with it fully, but it's an interesting idea. I especially like the way the author wrote this paragraph:
"... Harvard had, in at least one interesting way, the perfect social system: Everyone at the top of his own ladder. The small minority of students passionately interested in drama knew perfectly well that they were the most important people at the university; everyone else was there to provide them with an audience. The small minority passionately interested in politics knew that they were the most important ones; their friends were there to be herded into meetings of the Young Republicans and Young Democrats in order to get them elected to positions in those organizations that were the stepping stones to further political success."