Learn Something New Every Day: Are You Popular?

Do you remember MySpace? Over the weekend I tried to log into my account. Apparently the email I used in the 5^th grade is no longer valid, so that put a stopper to my plan. I could always make another account but that’s not cool anymore, but I did consider it.
 
Honestly, the new MySpace IS pretty cool. I think it went back to what it was originally made for- MUSIC. But I thought about something while I was on my little flashback… the word popular! I feel like I don’t even use it when referring to people anymore. Have you noticed that?  I have not – in my five years out of high school – heard someone say “Oh yeah, she’s so popular”. NO! Even now with Homecoming this week, the people on court aren’t “popular”; they have achieved! People know them because of what they have done and NOT because of all the reasons we used to think make people cool! I wish I could have gone through high school not caring what people thought about me! It would have made things so much better!
 
Another thing that triggered my memory was a video I watched in a class of mine. (Watch it! It’s a laugh, if anything!) I noticed that things DON’T change.  Carolyn is popular because of three things and they are still used today!
 
Number One: She LOOKS nice.
This is a concept that we took to heart pretty quick at a young age. Hollister, Abercrombie, AE… you know the stores. Over priced pieces of crap! But my God did we consume them.  Even now though, I feel that this concept hasn’t much changed. What brands are we looking at now? Designer brands. Coach, Express… You get it.
 
However, I don’t feel that we judge people as hard based on looks. I mean, maybe. I’ve moved on from doing it… I hope we all have!  This is a society where we base our opinions on looks! And that sucks!  It is the reason that this fact is even relevant to someone’s popularity!
 
Number Two: Wholesome, not Whore some.
This one, I feel, has always and will always be a rule to live by. “Parking” with too many people is not too kosher in the popular world. What I have come to realize is it really doesn’t matter how many people you “park” with, its just about how big of a deal you make it. If you are telling all your friends about all your boys, well, you’re asking for it.
 
Number Three: They have heard no scandal about her.
You’re simply not the center of gossip! People aren’t digging for dirt on you and you certainly haven’t done anything to make someone want to talk about you! The less drama the better! (Although I feel like the ‘popular people’ in my high school were always talking about each other… wait, does that count?)
 
To wrap things up, I just wanted to bring up popularity because, well, it hasn’t been part of my life in a while. And I like it! College is so fantastic for these types of issues that we don’t have to deal with anymore. I look back on how MySpace was the original Facebook and we treated it like a popularity contest. This is where it started. How many friends do you have? How many cute pictures can you put up of you and your friends (Or yourself… MySpace pic anyone?). Status updates! Wall postings! The strive to get the most activity on your account was a goal! Has Facebook become the same? In some respects, yes, but I just feel like it is a way for me to stay in contact with people. Maybe it is different for high schoolers, I don’t know.
 
Until next time!
-Alyssa

Edited by: Katelyn Kivel