Everyone is eager to be exalted, no one wants to feel inferior to another individual, and everything is always about status.
The problem with popularity is that when there are two or more parties, an in-group out-group mindset begins to form. Superiority, entitlement, and rejection begin to take place and run rampant. John holds himself far above David, Susie believes that she deserves the raise that belongs to Martha, and Chris rejects Alexis because of her appearance.
I’m going to very briefly discuss two stories that display why popularity is a problem.
Rosalie Avila
I read an article online at Fox News about this 13-year-old girl committing suicide. The very young Rosalie had such a full life ahead of her, but she didn’t even make it to high school because she was bullied in such a consistent and horrifying way. She was told that she was ugly and made fun of because of her teeth. This is the war waged in popularity that I’m talking about. This victim wasn’t good enough for her peers, she wasn’t beautiful enough (which is an article in itself), and this all led to her believing that she shouldn’t be alive anymore.
Brandy Velas
I stumbled across this case on CNN while I was reading the previously mentioned incident. Brandy was an 18-year-old who, bullied because of her weight, shot herself. The teen suffered through endless bouts of cyberbullying and was harassed through social media. She didn’t fit the mold that her peer group wanted her to be part of, so they pushed her farther away from the group she belonged with.
Social media is the vehicle that drives the distinguishing wedge between the popular and unpopular. We tend to praise and promote those with the most likes and followers, then boot those who don’t have an exceptional amount of likes and followers.
I find popularity a problem because it spreads hate and competition rather than love and unity. As implied looking at the suicide cases, taking popularity to extreme measures is detrimental.
Adlai Stevenson once stated, “My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.”
What if we could just remove the lens of popularity and we viewed everyone equally? What if we saw people for their character rather than their physical appearance?
Could you just imagine the difference this would make in the world around us?