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Maya Ferraton

Popularity

When people think about popularity, a lot of things come to mind. Many would consider it a good thing; you have a position and people know you belong in that social class.. However, some would rather distance themselves from the crowd, because people may look towards you in every scenario and you’ll lose the privilege of privacy. Chances are that you'll end up feeling lonelier than being unpopular. Both sides have a point, and in this article it’s time to face the facts: popularity can be a good thing but it’s definitely not as cracked up as it’s made out to be.


Most students view popularity as something important. You fit in, people know you, having no friends is never a problem and you have everyone’s attention, all the time. Some people only see popularity at face value and it becomes the embodiment of what they want, who they want to be. Even though this might not be the case everywhere, being a risk taking, fairly good looking individual could easily get you that position. Having enough outlandish stories to talk about, having enough to please people around you, having enough friends to be able to never look lonely. All these things are huge contributors and they can make up the most friendliest individual or the fakest one around.


We as humans love the thought of attention. When we’re talked about, we feel like we belong and are appreciated by the community - the whole basis of popularity is built on that. The person gains attention from something and either this attention from the start is what drives them to becoming this silly person that ruins themselves from alcohol or drugs that gets talked about all the time. However, this attention could also be what causes a person to feel intimidated by all the talk and opinions and causes them to become a more low-key individual who still has a lot of friends, but just stays away from being talked about.


This is how the complications of meeting someone arise; it is hard to tell if they are friendly by nature or are being fake, and are a completely different person when you’re not around.This attention can bring out the worst in people sometimes because frankly, there exist people who make everything a toxic competition.. People that love being the center of attention do something but not to bring out the best of them; rather to bring out the worst in themselves just because it makes an interesting story. However, there are lots who take the friendly stand. They appreciate their large sum of friends, they prefer to just have fun - not because they need people to know they always have fun, but because it simply pleases them. They may listen to the opinions of others but do not care about what they say about themselves. Instead, they prefer to just live their lives and hang around the people they can consider their “real” friends.


As we look at these two very common outcomes of popularity, we see two very different things. Depending on the person, we hear different stories. We’ve definitely come across people who either fall into the toxic end of popularity and some that fit right into the brighter side. The negatives of the experience could be what makes up the person to turn out better




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