$50 for a virtual diamond ring?!?

I was sitting in my conference today and a speaker said something that was both disturbing and caused me to think, probably far more than he expected...

People will pay $50 for a virtual diamond ring as a gift, and it doesn't even do anything. But do real diamonds really do anything? His statement continued to explain that the "virtual world" is an extension of the "real world"...

So why was I so disturbed by this...well it leads me to think about why I buy the things I buy and why anyone would spend $50 to send someone a diamond ring on FB - that's just insane, or is it? Our society is all about what we can buy or BE that makes us look better, more successful and more affluent - why wouldn't that be converting over to our virtual world?!? Why is our world so consumed with status that we would waste $50 on a virtual gift - insane!