Big Brother meets the world of social media in the hit reality show, The Circle USA. Hosted by comedian Michelle Buteau, The Circle is a competition that pits strangers against each other as they try to become the most popular person on social media.
The winner takes home $100,000 so it's definitely all to play for.
The set up goes like this: eight individuals enter the circle, a specially designed building where each person lives in their own individual apartment. All strangers to each other, the only way they can communicate is via the internal social media system. So the first thing they do is set up their profiles. Photos and a quick status update and they're in. But will they be themselves? Or will they try to catfish their fellow contestants?
Nobody knows who is being honest or who is being real except us, the viewer! And it makes for great tv. Like any reality show, the twists and turns keep coming as even on the first day the players must rate each other based on what little interactions they've had. The top two become ‘influencers' and earn the famous blue tick of approval. But then they have to block a player. And that means booting somebody out of the game.
What they don't know is that the player will get replaced by a new contestant and so the game goes on. What makes The Circle USA so good is that it is an eyeopener into the world of social media. When you can be anybody, nothing is ever truly real. Trust is earned, alliances and friendships are formed but the goals keep shifting, and with $100,000 on the line, it's tricky to stay 100% honest.
Honestly, The Circle USA wouldn't normally be the type of show that I would invest any real time in. But, I will eat my words and say that it was great fun. There is a point around episode 8 or 9 that I thought it should move along a bit faster. The finale, in episode 10 is more of a catch up with all of the players, as they have now all left the house, and only at the end of that, is the winner announced.
A fascinating insight into the incredibly shallow, shallow world of social media and how being yourself is sometimes not enough if you want to win the game. Or is it?
