Twitter – Page 2 – A Piece of the Sky

I’m always right, 25% of the time.
– Joey

It’s a little strange to catfish as your significant other, especially if you’re going to go into the game as a single person. Why over-complicate an already complicated game? It’s already hard to be yourself, in real life, much less on The Genius or Survivor, where you have to be calculating new strategies, almost constantly. “Is Chris cute?” immediately alerts the females, to the bad gaydar, of a possibly fake girl catfish. Why would the catfish admit to being the catfish?

In regard to Alana, a dork, for models, is not a dork, for normal people. Unfortunately, she just seemed like someone trying to be fake and fit in, with the rest of the masses. A majority of beautiful people in casting, immediately makes the other people suspect that several catfish, and maybe a bot, or two, might be in their midst. However, Alana wasn’t a catfish; she was actually hot. Filters are fine, just probably not on your profile pic. Bad first impression.

But humans are pattern-finding animals. What’s a threat? What’s a resource? In our daily lives, we must all quickly decide, all quickly form an opinion. It’s like when the great chef didn’t know how to poach an egg; a red flag immediately went up, for the woman he was hitting on.

Why would Alana immediately call the female chat “Skinny Queens”? Did Alana want to be targeted for being pretty? “It’s good that we’re all pretty,” Alana says, without even thinking about it. There’s nothing wrong with being pretty; Alana is just very tone deaf. Skinny legend, skinny icon. Has Alana opened insta lately? Rookie moves. Alana was a case where being so perfect must mean she was a catfish – and the group did not mean this as a compliment.

You don’t put a bumper sticker on a Ferrari.
– Joey

No airbrushing, filters or being too perfect, on FB and insta. It makes one seem too much like a bot. Too perfect is not appealing. You need a Goldilocks effect: just right. Like the person next door. I like the profile picture analysis. A variety of photos shows more sides of yourself, and is more proof that you’re not catfish, so long as it’s not obvious that you’re trying too hard.

A more individualized profile is more grounded, and more relatable. No filters, and no makeup equates to being more real. Have a natural glow and a personality that’s hard to fake. That’s how to survive the rise of the bots and catfish, on the internet. Human vulnerability and uniqueness will save us all.

The tension of the show is how real-life social media differs from the in-house social network, of The Circle. Contestants must compare and contrast what it means to understand the masses, versus what it takes to understand around twelve people. The question of which kind of fakeness is rewarded, in our society, was also explored in the Black Mirror social media episode, “Nosedive” – another Netflix show.

It’s interesting to see how social media rewards us – in the miniature – on The Circle. Contestants call out other people for being fake, in a game, about being fake. The fakest person is always on the lookout for who’s fake. This is on an online show, that is by its very nature, artificial and virtual.

I like that fresh players can still be added, to the game, after the game starts. It’s like unlocking a new character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Gamification and parallels between social media and video games are also investigated, by the show. Shubby is a virtual media designer that dislikes social media – when an online social network is essentially just light virtual reality. Shubby, who fears fakeness the most, is the least prepared to recognize fakeness. He gets taken in by both of the catfish, on The Circle. No wants to feel led on.

On Tinder, and other social networking sites, so much is decided on just a profile pic and a bio (or lack thereof). So much is at stake, on a profile pic, in real life, that a profile picture competition, on The Circle, is realistic and timely. What I like about The Circle is how the show gamifies decisions and judgments we already have to make every day. Social media is just a highlight reel.