What Does It Mean To Be Popular?

Have you ever wondered what does it mean to be popular? Is being popular a good thing? How can one be or become popular?

mean girls trio

Well… as I see it, things have changed since I first became acquainted with the concept. Back in the day, being popular meant that people knew who you are. For instance, being popular at school meant that people that frequent the school know who are. However, the paradigm has shifted a bit over the last few years with the rise of social media.

Nowadays, all I hear is young folks measuring themselves by how many friends or followers they have on social media. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I just find it so weird and narcissistic. Don’t even get me started on the latest trend that kills: selfies. Can you believe that some people actually get severely injured just to take a picture of themselves? Our ancestors must be laughing at us.

Now, I have another question: do people post content on social media to share or to seek approval from peers? This is the “dark side” that people rarely talk about. When you share a picture of a cute puppy… what exactly are you trying to signal to the world? Are you sharing it because you honestly believe that “cute puppies” are cool or are you using them to attract some thumbs up or likes for your post?

Whether you like it or not the rise of social media and the eternal thirst that some people have for popularity has fostered the creation of new businesses. Now, let’s say you want to be popular on Instagram, you can actually buy followers. It’s fake popularity but it works for a lot of people because it motivates other individuals (real people) to follow as well. If an account has tons of followers, it must be good right? Not always…

Finally, is being popular a good thing? I guess it a matter of personal aspirations. One can popular for several reasons, just take a look at the following ladies: