Friday, 25 May 2018

Why is Popularity Important?

We all crave for popularity. Without doubt !

Popularity is extremely psychologically linked to all human beings.

Moreover, popularity is interconnected with how happy we feel and how successful we consider ourselves.

Popularity in Childhood

Popularity begins from childhood.
The most popular child is considered the best. And, we all strive for making our child popular. We make an extra effort to mold our child in a way that makes them popular and stand out from the crowd.
And, there is something very unhesitant about it.
Infact, much of the popularity that we garner in our childhood has a direct bearing on our personalities later in life. Questions like was I accepted or rejected by my peers? Did my classmates liked to play with me? How often did neighbourhood kids come to my house for playing or studying? When being absent in school, did someone notice? are ways in which we can know were we popular or not.
Bullying, for example, has a strong imprint on our brain. Those that have been bullied will see instances in their adult life as part of that bullying. Dropping a glass full of water  on you or making you wait in line for long, will be interpreted as "done on purpose "or "they are mean people". Adults who have had a past with rejection and bullying will not see "good in others" or accept that "it was a mistake".
Such kids won't see the positive side. The feelings of "revenge" will grow.




Popularity in Adolescence


By the time the child reaches adolescence, the craving for popularity increases.

We reminisce our childhood and adolescence and recollect our days of popularity or unpopularity.
Throughout life, human beings needs popularity and it drives our life and interests. We want social and instant rewards for our actions and words. I mean, doesn't it feel good to get a clap when said something intelligent? And doesn't it feels bad when we face social exclusion for not doing what the others are doing?
This also brings us to a point that human beings are taught to be within the "herd" in order to be "safe". So, words like safe, important, famous, societal rules, good, etc. becomes synonymous with the word "popular".
Sometimes, people or rules which are popular are not even nice. Its just a social reputation that those people or rules amassed over time. So, being popular and being liked is not always the same thing.

Popularity Nowadays

Facebook, twitter, etc. are all feeding our hunger for popularity.
We get happy or upset on the number of likes, comments and shares of our content.
We seek to find and read about what's trending the internet, regardless of it being a good or bad news.
And, since it is evident in terms of numbers and statistics, popularity is getting measured nowadays.
When we see something is trending on internet or television, our brains begins to think that it is important. And, if its a practice or belief, then we begin to think that this is good because others are following.
When a movie gets most amount of reviews and advertised as the most iconic of our times, even if the movie doesn't fit our liking, our brain commands us to see it and like it. Why? Because others like it.
And, in this way the advertisers and media have successfully influenced our choices.

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