<p>I don’t think your level of popularity will change. Jumps in popularity don’t just naturally happen. I find that those who are popular and those who aren’t have vastly different temperaments and temperament isn’t something that changes just because you want it to. Just focus on your studies, join a few clubs that interest you and don’t talk crap about people… you know, just be cordial - common sense stuff. Even if you don’t become popular, at least people will think of you as a respectable person.</p>
<p>As for me, I was relatively unpopular in middle school - not that I was a loser or an outcast, it’s just that I generally kept to myself. I’m pretty mellow and I don’t actively go out to seek friends; however, I’m completely open to the idea of socializing and meeting new people. I’m just lazy. In middle school, I only had one friend, but I found that to be plenty and I never felt lonely. That friend is still one of my best friends to this day. </p>
<p>I’m going into my senior year of high school this fall and I’m still what you would call unpopular. I now have a bigger group of extremely close friends - (a whopping number of 3, oh my), but my social status has remained stagnant and I am fabulously content with that :).</p>
<p>I don’t think one’s financial status has that much of an impact on one’s level of popularity. I go to a very wealthy school - several students are the children of professional athletes, etc., and my family is pretty wealthy as well. Despite all this, my social life is pretty much nonexistent. People, at least from what I’ve observed, don’t tend to pay much attention to other’s financial statuses. Those who do tend to do so end up being shallow or self-conscious of their own statuses, and you wouldn’t want to hang out with those people anyway.</p>
<p>Everyone on here who’s saying it doesn’t matter is wrong. Popular people are happier in high school.</p>
<p>First of all to be popular: be social and pay attention to your appearance, and be involved in things.</p>
<p>The difference in high school here seems to be that the popular people are involved: athletes, singers, actors, student govt officers, etc as opposed to in middle school where to be popular you had to have “swag”</p>
<p>You will become more popular even if just by a little. I sure wasn’t popular in middle school and now entering junior year everyone tells me I’m pretty popular (cockiness).</p>
<p>Just be natural, involved, and enjoy yourself.</p>
<p>^I don’t really think someone can be wrong if they say it doesn’t matter. Some people probably genuinely don’t care about popularity. And then you have people like me who go to a school where everyone knows everyone. There is no popular at a school like that.</p>
<p>This is ridiculous, sad, and understandable. Posts like these always surface with the upcoming new year. Time and time again people says being popular makes you happier and yada yada yada. People will realize eventually. </p>
<p>OP, if by popular you mean well liked and sociable, then yes, by all means become “popular”. If by popular you mean hanging out with the “most talked about people”/“most liked people”/“people who are the best in ___” then good luck to you because you’re selling yourself out. People are going to notice and they’re not going to like what they see. There’s nothing more painful than watching someone try too hard.</p>
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Who goes around telling people they are popular?</p>
<p>Well I wouldn’t say popularity makes you happier, but it sure is better to have actual friends to talk to if you have problems than just staying by yourself and never getting those problems out. This supports the getting involved thing. I’m sure in the poster’s school the involved people technically aren’t all on the same level of popularity, but they have friends to deal with their problems with. This will make you happier almost assuredly</p>
<p>Honestly, most of the people at my school who are the always talked about/everyone wants to be them kind of popular are all self-serving jerks who are two-faced. With a few exceptions. And yeah, they’re talked about, their friends talk about them in a good way, then their friends (and the rest of the school) will talk about them behind their back (not in a good way, if you get my drift). These are the type of people who on Facebook or Twitter or whatever say, “People shouldn’t be so mean to others” and that type of thing, and then turn around and do the exact thing they said they hated/disliked about people.</p>
<p>By popular I don’t mean I want to be like the girls from Mean Girls who fantasize about being prom queen or who gossip nonstop. I just mean being more well liked by people and not judged because I’m smart. There seems to be a misconception these days that smart kids can’t be funny, outgoing, etc. and I’m sick of being mistreated during my middle school years.</p>
<p>Whenever I talk about my popularity (and I do often because I am just a little bit cocky), I’m referring to Niquii’s definition of popularity. I am naturally a nice person who treats everyone with respect, from my fellow seniors to the puniest of freshmen (even though I did do a lot of bookings, turtling, and pranks on this year’s freshmen, which is normal considering that I was a senior this year.). People have told me that my presence makes them smile. When I was looking over the signatures in my yearbook, I saw freshmen that said they looked up to me since I was one of the only seniors that actually talked to them, which makes me proud because I like to set examples for other people. If you want to become popular, just be nice to people and treat them with respect. That’s part one of becoming popular. Part two involves somehow standing out. The fact that I won Homecoming King back in September was a major help to my popularity. Also, since I did morning announcements on my school’s TV station, the more than 1500 students in my school saw my face 5 days per week that I did morning announcements. Finally, I was a member of my school’s drumline (tenor player), which always does public performances. If you treat other people well and find a way to stand out and be unique, you’ll be popular in no time! Good luck!</p>
<p>There will always be cliques, and even at your new school there will probably be a group of people the consider themselves “popular”. My best advice to you is to be yourself (cliche, I know). Think of this as a brand new opportunity to not necessarily reinvent yourself, but to escape the mold that everyone else at your old middle school put you in. At my high school, people automatically group you/judgement is rampant so it’s hard to go from one clique to another. As a result, I don’t get to actually be myself because I’m interacting with people that I’ve gone to school with for a long time, and they’d probably think I was psychotic if I changed.
Good luck!!</p>
<p>In ten years, you are all going to look back at the way you are acting now and feel embarrassed, regardless of how popular or unpopular you think you are. But thankfully, you probably won’t remember a lot of the stupid things you said and did. Unless, of course, those things are archived forever on internet forums.</p>
<p>I wasn’t referring to mean girls popularity. Popularity at our school means being well known and liked. It’s not one dimensional. The starting qb is third in his class. Last years prom queen was a sal. Popularity here is obtained by being friendly, funny, talented (or in rare cases attractive.)</p>
<p>And yes at least here the popular people are happier. And studies have proven that people who were popular in high school enjoy more successful careers as adults. I think a lot of people on cc are simply bitter about their own popularity.</p>
<p>I totally agree with goodnoodle! It seems like a lot of people on CC look down upon popularity and popular people. If you claim to be popular (and I’m not afraid to because it’s 100% true that I was), you are at risk for being bashed about it. As a popular kid, I can attest to the fact that popularity does indeed make you happier in school; It feels great to high five multiple people in the hallways whilst switching periods; It feels great to be invited to events that other people don’t get invited to; It feels great to know that, literally, EVERYBODY in the school knows your name; It feels great when your fellow seniors elect you as Homecoming King. Hell yeah popularity makes you happier! I don’t care what anybody says!</p>