Everyone Already Acts Like ‘The Circle’ Contestants on Social Media
A social psychologist explains why I see myself in the worst characters on Netflix’s new reality show
On Netflix’s new reality game show The Circle, contestants compete via a social media app to win $100,000 by outlasting their opponents. The players all live in separate units in the same apartment building, but they can’t speak to each other, video chat, or see each other in person — they can only interact using the Circle app. Based on what they see on their feeds, they continuously rank each other, vying to become “influencers” who have the power to “block” other players — that is, kick them out of the game.
So dystopian. So shallow. So what I needed.
I started watching, fully ready to judge all of the players for the way they selectively revealed themselves to each other, desperately fought for attention and affirmation, and welcomed cameras into the behind-the-scenes of their social media lives. But something kept nagging at me as the game played out: I was watching a microcosm of all of our worst social media behaviors — and identified with them way more than I thought I would. The contestants on the show interacted with the app and with each other in ways that reminded me of myself.
