Popular!

[visualkei]

Are you popular? Or do you have friends that are?

I grew up and am close to two people who are completely different from each other, and they are popular. Now we are way past the high school stage, in college, we live in a big populated city, and every time I'm with one of them, we'll run into someone they know. Their phones are ringing off the hook, and every time they pick up it's some different person asking where they are, do they have plans later, or inviting them somewhere.

My guy cousin is big into cars, and he is popular with the guys, and seems to be a leader among his friends. He knows both guys and girls that work everywhere. He's a laid-back dude who works at Best Buy, goes to car meets, and shoots pool. He's so popular that when he went to visit me in college that's like 300 miles away from our city, and he's sitting in a class with me and 300 other people, he runs into people he knows. He's attractive, but he's overweight now, so the ladies aren't swooning around him like in high school.

I also have a distant girl relative who is popular with both guys and girls. She is very cute and has funky hair. It's almost bizarre how people would practically throw themselves at her. She often makes plans to visit me in college so she can escape from her popularity because tons of people are always calling her on the phone and making her obligated to go out.

Now I'm not popular. I'm quite a hermit, and I think the only reason why I know some people is because I'm their cousin. lol. And I don't really put my name out there, either.

What I find these two have in common is that they are very comfortable talking to people. They can talk and talk and talk to just about anyone about lots of things. They're also good to their friends, don't talk smack about people, and are helpful to other. And I think that's why they're so popular.

Why do you think certain people are popular? I know quite a lot of people who are very attractive but aren't popular. I'd like to hear what you think about their personality, and that's beyond "because they're really attractive" or something physical.

Also, does TRYING to be popular ever work? From my experience, those who try, often end up looking pathetic.

[The Spectacular Professor]

Let's just put it this way: If I were popular, would I be posting threads on an anime message board? (I kid my fellow Otakuites.) Anyway, no, but I don't really care, two or three good friends are better than a thousand shallow followers who would abandon you instantly if you showed up to school in the wrong shirt. I do have a couple of friends who might be considered "popular," though.

[Tekkaman]

I was never popular in school, ever. I was always picked on, and made fun of because of the clothes I wore. But it wasn't like I could help it because my mom sheltered me in the house to keep me safe while she worked doubles at her job. I 'manned' the house and HAD to stay to myself since I was an only child. I didn't know what popularity was, all I knew was how to survive. And to survive in this world, you become a leader or you follow a good leader. I chose to follow a good leader and joined the Army.

Now the same kids that pick on me look at me in the uniform and say that i'm cool and 'what not'. Not true, though. I didn't become popular by putting on the uniform, I became respected.

*It should be noted that those same kids that picked on me, I found out that half of them or in jail for stupid stuff they could've prevented. (Great job guys! Real great role modeling! :p )

[Farto the Magic]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=DarkGreen]Popularity is overrated. I, for one, tend to get annoyed after spending a few hours around someone who is not a good friend. That being said, I'd seriously doubt that its physically possible for me to be popular. People know me, they respect my individualism, objective completed. [/COLOR] [/FONT]

[The13thMan]

[FONT=Century Gothic] [COLOR=DarkOrange]Well, for me, my conception of reality was greatly chaged when i started highschool. I think it was because you had the choice to hang out with who you really wanted. For me it was the band kids and "geeks". And there were popular people among them, moreso in the band kids area than the geeks area. So, there were popular people among the band kids group that i hanged out with. I wasn't really one of them, but i was friends with them.

I'd say i'm popular person material, just not popular. I don't go out a bunch, but i typically get along with people. But then again, what do i know?

If a popular person has to be nice all the time to everybody then i don't want to be popular. Some people piss me off, not necessarily because they're mean to me, but more because they're stupid. ::shrug::

Pfft, i don't even have a cell phone.

Later.
[/COLOR] [/FONT]

[DeadSeraphim]

[color=indigo][size=1][font=arial]I'm popular elitist scum. If someone doesn't want to be me, they want to make love to me. Honestly, it's a terrible life to lead, but I'm willing to do it for the team. Not everyone can be as awesome as me, afterall, so if I have to take top spot on the social ladder, dammit, I'll do it with pride.[/font][/size][/color]

[Tatsubei Yagyu]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I think I could be considered popular, mostly because I have a huge list of friends. I have friends that are in band who would be considered nerds (one time, I played the "Final Fantasy 6 Battle Theme" on a piano in the band hall, and A LOT of heads turned my way), and friends that would be considered in the "In" crowd.

I think that the reason so many people like me is because of my loud personality, considering I don't apologize for who I am. I'm not ashamed to pull out a manga in the middle of class after I'm done working, or wear an anime shirt while I'm in the cafeteria. I think people respect my "I'm the way I am because I want to be" attitude, so they want to be around me, and share what they like, knowing I won't look down on them.

We're only human after all. I'm not perfect, so I shouldn't be lookin' down on others like it.

But enough about me... :animeswea [/FONT][/COLOR]

[wolf Toboe]

Well, I have friends that are popular, but I'm like a shadow, I'm never noticed. I tend to shut up around people, so that's the main reason why...I guess. People know who I am, but never seem to talk much to me... Well, that's me at school.

[Guest Mythology]

I'm a popular person even though i dont try to be i'm just a person who attracts lots of attention though i dont try to put name out there but so many people know me or heard of me and the things i've done that they wont leave me alone and just wait for something to happen around me.

for example: everyone knows i have a short temper so they start rumors about me knowing that i'm going to track down who ever started it and beat the mess out of them and when it happens my name gets spread around and it makes me look like top dog and that makes more problems cause theres always someone trying to top the top dog and then you put them down and your name gets spread around.

[Zen]

[color=darkred][size=1]

I don't like to label myself and say that I am, but yeah. I'm pretty popular at my school. Most people know me, my name, and what I'm about. I can talk with any particular person around me and I have a personal relationship with most of the people in my school classes.

I suppose I fall into the category of just an all around guy. I'm not intimidated by an person or their so called 'social standing' so it's not uncommon for me to walk into my class and flip off the quarterback of my school's football team and trade insults with him through out class. It's all play and a big joke, and everyone knows that.

I don't push people away because of who they are and what they like, and I'm willing to try new things with whomever. I suppose I just have a well rounded personality. I'm athletic, I get pretty good grades, and I seem to be funny to those around. Heh.

[/color][/size]

[Albert Flasher]

[COLOR=Sienna]Popular people? Bah! My experiance with the popular people is simple: rats. Dirty, stinkin' rats to a person. No personality, no individuality, nothing to speak of. They're wretched creatures who spend all their time making sure they have the right hair or if people like their cloths. They almost never have original opinions and just do things because "Famous Person X" did it.

I deliberatly try and remain as unpopular as possible. My opinions and styles are almost never the same as the popular people, and I love it that way. I'm not part of the increasingly popular "Non-Conformist" movement either, because that's basically become a different kind of conformity and popularity. I just basically be my hockey-watching, pizza-eating, computer-game-playing, fat-kid-in-sweatpants self, which is constantly at odds with the "We don't like you because... *guh*" popular people.

And yes, this was a massive generalization of popular people, so any popular people here can feel free to call me whatever you feel like. [/COLOR]

[Dragon Warrior]

[size=1]I'm like The Boss. I don't like saying I am, but I'm aware I am popular. Sounds conceited to say it, so I don't exactly go around announcing it, but hey, you asked the question in the thread. There really isn't anyone at my school that doesn't at least know my name. I know virtually everyone at school and call say hello to someone and get a friendly reply, possibly striking up a conversation.

This can be good or bad. Basically if there's an assembly, I'm asked to participate. And during these assemblies, if there's activities where they need a student to come out of the audience and do it, everyone in the crowd will usually shout my name. This can be good in the cases that it's fun to do the activities (and I love being the center of attention), but I may end up making an *** of myself by screwing whatever said activity is up. I'm involved in mostly every organization or group in the school, but only participated in Cross Country really for sports-wise (Track, occassionally).

I don't think my popularity went by my looks. I believe it to be my personality, which is probably better because it serves me well. My personality represents a lot of my talents, so in cases like a group project in class, people will argue over who gets me (for my acting skills, art skills, writing skills, humor, etc.), which can be good and bad (bad in the case that I have to someone down).

High School was my favorite place to be 'cause everywhere I turned, there was someone friendly and a smile sent back to me. I was loved all around and that's the best feeling ever. It helps that my school is friendly, so it isn't hard to make friends there. I basically like to be liked, so I do my best to be friendly and helpful to anyone around me. That may also have contributed to my popularity. Girls-wise, I always have a bunch liking me, but I'm so picky about them that I never persue any. I don't want anything to do with those who like me whether they're really attractive, really kind, or whatever. I feel like my school doesn't really offer the kind of girl I want. But it does feel nice to have someonee like you, even though you don't see any future with them.

In my later High School years, my name got around other schools, so I was surprised when I meet people that they know me. It's mainly my friends mentioning me or possibly me being academics, sports, or school activities. I get invited to a lot of stuff, but hardly attend any of them due to my parents and their strictness. I didn't really start going out and doing stuff 'til this year (like crashing proms, other schools' dances, and occassionally just partying hard--minus drugs and alcohol, of course).

Popularity is nice, but a tough thing. I enjoy it, yeah, but it helps build the confidence I need to go into my career of choice, which is TV/movie actor. High School was just preparing me for what I hope to be a bright future. Anyone can be popular, they just got to find the right way in. And just because you're popular doesn't make you slutty, sleezy, stuck-up, conceited, or a jerk. You can be popular for the straight reason that you're nice. Trust me on that. I know from experience.[/size]

[b]EDIT:[/b]

[QUOTE=Red 6][COLOR=Sienna]Popular people? Bah! My experiance with the popular people is simple: rats. Dirty, stinkin' rats to a person. No personality, no individuality, nothing to speak of. They're wretched creatures who spend all their time making sure they have the right hair or if people like their cloths. They almost never have original opinions and just do things because "Famous Person X" did it.

I deliberatly try and remain as unpopular as possible. My opinions and styles are almost never the same as the popular people, and I love it that way. I'm not part of the increasingly popular "Non-Conformist" movement either, because that's basically become a different kind of conformity and popularity. I just basically be my hockey-watching, pizza-eating, computer-game-playing, fat-kid-in-sweatpants self, which is constantly at odds with the "We don't like you because... *guh*" popular people.

And yes, this was a massive generalization of popular people, so any popular people here can feel free to call me whatever you feel like. [/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[size=1]That's what I mean. People are under the impression popularity is bad and if you're popular, you're bad as well. That's too bad.[/size]

[visualkei]

[quote name='Dragon Warrior][size=1']Anyone can be popular, they just got to find the right way in. And just because you're popular doesn't make you slutty, sleezy, stuck-up, conceited, or a jerk. You can be popular for the straight reason that you're nice. Trust me on that. I know from experience.[/size][/quote]

That's interesting. I expected people to come here and bash about the popular, but not many of you have. In fact, some of you even admit to being popular without sounding cocky. =]

Like Dragon Warrior, I also think that there are opportunities to be popular, and you just gotta be able to take them. But, in the end, it's up to your personality. I also think a lot of "normal" cool people are popular. And we don't really think of them as "the popular people" that's often associated with "the stuck up people." They're just so cool that they're too cool to be considered popular. =] You know what I'm sayin?

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=Sienna]Am I popular? When my parents first moved to Utah, definitely no. I was the perverted outsider who liked anime. A lot of the people here assume that all anime is porn. So I was actually extremely unpopular and since I was even being harassed by adults my parents finally arranged it so I went to a different High School. Once I started going to the new school, things changed. I wasn?t exactly popular, but I wasn?t unpopular either. I sort of fit in the middle. I had lots of friends and probably towards the end when I graduated I was fairly well known.

Now that I?m in college, it?s rather ironic since I run into people I know all the time, from either High School (the one where I didn?t have problems) or from the people I?ve run into at my job. Sometimes I?m surprised at how many people I actually know. And for what ever reason I?m a little popular at the college with other guys. I get asked out on dates all the time. I don?t exactly do anything to attract others attention, so I assume that part of it is looks (I?m a little on the petite side and others say I?m pretty) and the other is that I?ve been told I?m nice and fun to hang out with.

I agree with DW, being popular doesn?t mean you?re a jerk. It?s rather ironic to think that since the other people who are well known in my area, well it?s because they are nasty self centered, selfish brats who failed to grow up. So if being known by a lot of people makes you popular, well they did succeed, at least in the sense that people know to avoid them. [/COLOR]

[Shinmaru]

I was (and still am, to an extent) part of that bizarre null zone of popularity where I had a decent number of friends, a pretty sizable number of acquaintances, and yet I still flew under the radar at school. I did well in my studies but not well to win a bunch of awards or be considered a genius or something (I blame math for that); I enjoyed sports but the only sport I actually [i]wanted[/i] to try out for, tennis, was one that nobody could give a rat's *** about except for the strange pseudo-cult that formed around it; and I'm not an especially talkative person, so nobody really got a chance to become aware of me.

Basically I was just there doing my own thing, pursuing my own interests, and going along with others when I felt like doing so. As much as I trash on my old high school, I have to admit that it was at least an environment where one could be open about his- or herself and not get totally **** on for it, at least in my experience. Or maybe I just wasn't popular enough to be picked on very often. :p

As for my view on popularity, well, I honestly wouldn't mind being slightly more popular, though I don't think that I would enjoy much more than that. I could never be someone of DW's popularity, for example; I would become far too annoyed with so many people looking toward me lol. I'm not certain how you popular guys and gals put up with that sort of thing. :)

[Dragon Warrior]

[quote name='Shinmaru']I'm not certain how you popular guys and gals put up with that sort of thing. :)[/quote]

[size=1]Like I said, I like attention :P[/size]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]Well I?ve been a little of both, popular and unpopular and even a third. Infamous. In grade school I was infamous. I was small and other kids assumed I was an easy target for bullying. Something they learned very quickly was completely wrong. So during those lovely grade school years everyone knew my name, the teachers, other kids, even other parents. It?s not that I was a bully, but if a teacher did something like pull your hair, which one of mine liked to do, my answer was to take one of the kick balls and when they walked out onto the playground to make sure everyone came in from recess. Well I would take that kickball and throw it as hard as I could at her head. I figured if she was going to pull my hair, she needed to know that it hurt and since I couldn?t reach up to pull her hair, well in my second grade child mindset I figured hitting her would do just as good. The same went for other kids, if you hit me I would beat you up for it.

Then when I was in Junior High and High School, at least for part of it, my parents got divorced and my mom took us to live in Texas with her relatives. Then I became unpopular as no one wanted to be friends with one of the only ?Mormon? kids in the whole school. There were three of us, me, my brother and another girl. I got a good education, but I had very little in the way of friends.

Then for the last part of my High School years my mom moved back to Utah. And at the new school I was popular. I didn?t do anything to get that way so it was kind of a surprise to me. I?m not super popular, but since then I?ve always had lots of friends. I don?t necessarily like a lot of attention, but I do enjoy chatting with others and often I?ve been told that I?m very friendly.

I would imagine that the main thing that makes someone popular is they are fun, friendly and nice to be around. Something that doesn?t require being super attractive to achieve. As for the fake popular, those never work as it?s usually obvious that in the end they only care about themselves. [/COLOR]

[Skeith92]

I can't say i'm popular at all. I have a few good friends and many other people I talk to occasionally, but I dont consider them my friends. I like having a few good friends rather then a bunch of people to talk to ocasionally.

[John]

[QUOTE=Red 6][color=Sienna]Popular people? Bah! My experiance with the popular people is simple: rats. Dirty, stinkin' rats to a person. No personality, no individuality, nothing to speak of. They're wretched creatures who spend all their time making sure they have the right hair or if people like their cloths. They almost never have original opinions and just do things because "Famous Person X" did it.

I deliberatly try and remain as unpopular as possible. My opinions and styles are almost never the same as the popular people, and I love it that way. I'm not part of the increasingly popular "Non-Conformist" movement either, because that's basically become a different kind of conformity and popularity. I just basically be my hockey-watching, pizza-eating, computer-game-playing, fat-kid-in-sweatpants self, which is constantly at odds with the "We don't like you because... *guh*" popular people.

And yes, this was a massive generalization of popular people, so any popular people here can feel free to call me whatever you feel like. [/color][/QUOTE] I'm with you, bro. Being that I've completed two years of high school, I've gained a flawless understanding of my fellow man, and how every iota of his mind and personality can be divined by looking at what he wears and who he hangs out with. Yessir, I'm part of a superior breed of human who, of course, won't inevitably end up working in a cubicle next to a [i]popular[/i] kid in ten years. And I, like you, refuse to conform, but that doesn't make me a "non-conformist" because [i]that's just another form of conformity ohemgee[/i], which is a startling revelation that only one as insightful as ourselves could make.

I'm so glad I was born with the ability to change preferences and opinions into universal truths.

[Ai.sAkUrA.chan]

I guess I'm right in the middle.
I'm not the center of attention, but a few of my close friends are popular,
so sometimes they bring me into their circle, or something like that.
I basically talk to all kinds of people, so I'm really friends with everyone, well
almost. Even the athletic people, and we have nothing in common.
Alot of people know me and talk to me, but like i first said, I'm not the center of attention, or most likely to be prom queen in high,lol.
I don't hate popular kids, most of the ones I know are really nice, and too
happy, but that's alright.

So....I'm stuck in between >_<

[2010DigitalBoy]

I spent first through seventh grad egetting picked on relentlessly for everything that I am. Eigth grade being scoffed and laughed at sometimes for being myself, sometimes for being a dumbass.

The last school year wasn't terrible. The first half I went unnoticed by the school's populace. The second half I was too shy to talk to anyone, though I have to say in every year I've ever been in school I've never known someone to not know my name.

In fact, it is not uncommon for people I've never even met to walk up and go 'hey Conrad' which is friggin weird. Obviously it's due to my back-length hair and obscure name.

[Pumpkin]

[QUOTE=SunfallE][COLOR=RoyalBlue] It?s not that I was a bully, but if a teacher did something like pull your hair, which one of mine liked to do, my answer was to take one of the kick balls and when they walked out onto the playground to make sure everyone came in from recess. The same went for other kids, if you hit me I would beat you up for it.
[/COLOR][/QUOTE][COLOR=#333333][FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium]Wow, I use to do similar things. Man, I was such a bad kid. I can't believe how alike our stories are.

For me, when I was in Elementary school, I was the kid you didn't want to mess with but also the kid that the younger ones admired. I got good grades ironically, but I would always get in fights with the teachers and other kids, especially those who picked on others. I had a lot of confidence and never seemed to back down from any challenge, except for that school went bankrupt and I was forced to move to a bigger one with all new people. This changed me a lot, because for the first time I experienced being shy and being the new person.

I wasn't very liked in middle school, infact the kids there were downright cruel. It really helped me see the other side of things in school though, I don't really look upon being unpopular as a bad experience anymore. More so, it has taught me how it feels to be treated like that, and I feel I have become a better person for it.Of course I went through really emotional hardships, but in the end, I think I turned out okay. After that hell-hole of a school, I entered a public highschool and began to break out of my shell again freshman year. I was still somewhat shy, but I wasn't hated or anything. I think I enjoyed my first few years because I hung out with my own little circle of friends. Then like Sunfall, I moved to a different highschool and became the "popular" one.

By the time I was a senior, I think I became more confident in myself again, but this time in a different way. When I'm single I can be described as a major flirt, especially back then when I was a major attention whore (*cough*Gavin*cough* J/K), which I can't really stand to be anymore. I sometimes like attention but I would never go back to compete with other girls for it. Now I'm in college, and while I can talk to anyone about anything and I'm not shy, I do like to let people approach me instead every once in awhile. I'm also told I'm intimidating, but apparently that has to deal with how I look. Some guys think that I'm attractive so that must mean I'll be conceited and stuck up, but really I'm friendly (I'm not fake) with anyone who's willing to approach me.

So the anwser is do I consider myself popular? Technically, I hate using the world "popular" because it sounds so superficial, I guess I could say I'm kind of well-known in most highschools around here and people through connections. It could be due to the fact that where I live isn't the biggest town. All I know is that I'm known as the "Advice giver" around where I live, and the fact that every guy in town seems to tell me their problems. I'm told I'm very understanding and I think the fact that I get a long with men more then women is that I'm not judgemental and I accept people for who they are. By the way, I'd rather have a close bunch of friends then a million acquantances anyday. If its one thing that I give the most advice on is that finding trustworthy friends can be like trying to find a diamond in a giant sandbox. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][quote name='Pumpkin][COLOR=#333333][FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium] If its one thing that I give the most advice on is that finding trustworthy friends can be like trying to find a diamond in a giant sandbox. [/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]That?s so true that it?s downright scary. People think that if you are popular that since you have tons of friends that life is easier somehow. But the reality is that often among all those people you know, only a few are trustworthy and close friends. In all the times I?ve had friends, only a few have always been there. It?s amazing how many of them turn out to be fair weather friends when the going gets rough. I?ll take those few special friends over being popular and having lots of friends any day. [/COLOR]

[triblackfire]

[font=Comic Sans MS][color=darkred]The way I difine if someone is popular is someone that is well known. I don't know if I am popular but I do have a reputation as being one of the more well know people in my school ( in a good way of course). I do have friends who are popular and many that are not. I see many others that consider themselves to be popular, and not to be mean, they are, but in a bad way. :animeblus So there are good things and bad things that come with being popular, and one of the bad things is reputation. There are so many ways to ruin it!!! Yeah, but I guess to be popular is just the way you hold yourself. Anyone can be popular.[/color][/font]

[Sho Ayori]

I normally hang out with a small group of friends each day, so I'd say I'm well known but not what you call 'popular'. I'm not one of those prople where they want to make themselves widely known throughout the colege, I don't mind attention but too much makes me uncomfortable.