In high school, I felt completely left out of certain cliques. Just off the top of my head, here are some cliques from my high school.
The Populars: Mostly a group of girls who just posted open-mouth photos and photos upside down.
The Jocks, or dare I say, “The Boys,” who played a sport, whose hobby was the gym and who posted about leg day while flexing their biceps.
Finally, we had people like me. We didn’t get a special name, but we did think that repeating, “I don’t have a life,” would somehow get us a life. People also trusted us with random and personal information, not sure why.
All of that being said, I remember vividly laying on my couch bored (without a life) wondering what I could watch on Netflix. Oh, did I forget to mention, people like me take their Netflix shows VERY seriously. A show called “The Circle” really caught my eye. It’s simply about a bunch of people judging one another based on their social media accounts and limited conversation with each other.
As I watched–very seriously, might I add–I began to realize that 1) people really be out here catfishing, and 2) this show is real-life proof of how social media and new friendships really work. Whether it’s intentional or not, we form a lot of bias and judgment while making friends.
I am also guilty of this. In ninth grade, the first thing I needed to do was make friends. I would only attempt to talk to the people who looked as if their life was over, used big words solely for the purpose of sounding smart and thought being on the “outside” of the Populars was a personality trait. Now, what really gave you bonus points in my book was if your Instagram repped One Direction, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Our circles (hehe), whether in school or not, are shaped to fit specific criteria. For example, in the show, a person would get eliminated each round based on how the majority felt about him or her. One guy was an athlete and would refer to terms no one else understood, so he was the first one gone. The person who won the show was a family-oriented guy who was nice, and you can guess the personalities of the four runners-up: all family-oriented and nice (although one totally disguised himself as his girlfriend the whole time).
The internet allows us to present ourselves the way we want, so when we are out making friends, it’s normal to connect to the ones who are a little more like you, at least based on what we see when they post. Although “The Circle” does expose how things really are, the final five did become close friends and are still friends. That being said, enjoy your friends and continue to live how you want; because if your specific clique clicks for you, then nothing else should matter.
Photo courtesy of Maggie Exum
This was super relatable! I remember those tables and always wanting to fit in, but just not fitting a certain look, or viewpoint and getting removed. It was disappointing but the older i got the more I realize that I was special and just had to find the right circle to be part of!