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Popular is such a wrongly used term. Here in Puerto Rico, that expression isn't used and nobody has that idea in their head. Everyone here is regarded as an equal unless they don't speak to anyone (mainly the study all the time nerds and wierd gays that are in my school that make you scared to the bone).

Popular should be defined as the type of poeple that on't have regard for anyone else except themselves, go out to parties a lot and usually are wrongfully looked up upon the "non-populars". They are also the first people to have girfriend/boyfriend and are usually more aggresive than others.

The problem lies in the "Non-Populars" which look up to them for the wrong reasons. They also think of the "Populars" as superiors. It isn't the "Populars" fault that they are looked up upon like that and they take advantage of that, it's the "Non-Populars" fault of thinking that they are better than themselves and looking up to them.

This is why American society mainly is divided like that. It's a more modern version of a Constitutional Aristocratic Monarchy where based on your attitudes you are "better" and have more influence than other people. Here is a metaphor describing what I saw.

"Whites would be walking on one side of the street on the sidewalk and Blacks on the other. Then you have the minorities which include Latins, Asians and Arabs fighting to walk right through the middle of the street."

At my school everyone hangs out with everyone, but of course some people hang out more with others but that is natural. Economic status, race and religion means nothing in Puerto Rico. The only thing that defines you is how you act and think of yourself. Here are some examples of what we do:

• If you think that you are a low-life then thats what we will think of you and you will be regarded as a low-life.
• Your actions will dictate how we will act towards you. If you are funny then we will be funny with you. If you do something that we don't like then we will stay away from you, change it or accept it.
• Protecting others is regarded as an act of loyal friends and you will be thanked for that.
• Ratting on a friend so that you don't get into trouble will just get your ass kicked.
• Accepting your failures/actions will greatly improve what we think of you.

This is what I'll call an Equal Action System. Everyone is regarded as an equal but your action/thoughts will determine who you are.

Now with the Popularoty System is more like a ladder which everyone will have to climb. Based on who you hang out with determines your status on the ladder. The higher ranked people you hang out with the higher your rank will rise. High Ranked epople usually won't hang out with Lower Ranked people. This promotes Aristocratic system.

Well, I think it's well described. But you didn't mention that these rules can be broken easilly. Popular can hang out with "less popular" without being juged. Girls mostly use this. A hot and popular girl hang out with a less popular and less beautiful. This match is benefict for both side, the beautiful girl seems greater, and the "less Beautiful" look like more popular.

Ps: What that about beer? You wanted to express yourself?

Just want to know what most of you; Americans which live in that system, think about my system and yours.

Also I was writing this as a reply to someone describing a Hot girl as popular and i started writing all that and I decided I should make another whole thread for this.

I don't notice the 'popular' system here. Post-communism...

The problem is that some people just have low self-esteem and say OMG that person is popular I'm a loser. They worship other people, and they group with other people thinking the same, until that person they worship IS popular as described by the majority.

This annoys me, that you are bringing up the subject of popularity. It's just a concept thought by a majority if retards. It's meaningless and followed by only people who believe in popularity, which is based upon meaningless crap.

Now what is really annoying are the people that say they don't go by all this popular crap then start whining about "popularity" questioning WHY people think like that.

Just let it be

This topic just annoys me in a way I can't describe right now.

At my school all being popular means is that you have a lot of friends. If you're un-popular it doesn't mean that you're weird or "un-cool" (by the way, what the shit has happened to the word cool? When did it go from being laid back to being some elitist cock with an expensive car?) it just means that you're not very social.

EDIT: Forgot the word is.

reclusive!

Exactly my point. The more friends that you have, the more the people with few friends envy you and thus making you popular and higher on the ladder than them.

As I said, it's a system created by people who feel bad about themselves or envy the people with lots of friends which makes them want to be like them. The problem is that it creates a gap between the populars and unpopulars making more separation between groups at school.

I don't see a problem if the people are stupid enough to envy others. They are the ones who are not social. Why make the social people look like the bad ones?

ahh good ol' popularity well for one thing since i play games like starcraft and such i am considered a geek but i put an end to all that! now im sorda
borderline on popular and just somebody, i dont really like the concept of the
school heirarchy of nerds and popular people, but then again we wouldnt be human without predudice!

Hey! I'm popular, you can't refuze m3h.
So? who the ing cares, bitch ?

simple as that

For the love of...are you saying you've personally met every Puerto Rican to be able to make such a harsh generalization as to say they are believe the other man is equal?

In elementary school, the students were mainly divided into three groups: sports players, smart people, and everyone else. (I was a sports player) When we came into middle school, to act cool you basically stayed with your group. The groups themselves became more divided, and there emerged from the groups new cliches. (During this point I was torn between jocks and the laid back hippies.) When high school emerged, all those groups and divisions seemed to merge together and we all became pretty equal in status. I basically know everyone in our school, but I'm not considered popular. The only people who seem to be left out of our society are the hardcore goths with people on leashes and such.

I am aware of this system, and it makes me wanna kill people, but i just dont go by that. I just be friends with people i get along with. Popular or unpopular.

but please, u r being exaggerating beer. Ur acting like every Puerto Rican isnt like that at all, and making Americans look like *idiots.*

Well, lets see...currently in my school, at least in my grade, we've splintered into small groups of friends that we hang out with. There's no real "social" status, and we all just, well, mingle together. I can't say that some are "popular" - it's just not the right word to describe them. They certainly have more friends, or are more outgoing, or are just more likable, and some of us might envy them for those qualities, but I personally would never want to switch places with them. Heck, there isn't any bullying at all. It's mainly debating constantly over beliefs, or minor physical contact.

Let me clarify myself for what FK said:

What I said regerding the "American Popularity" system is based on what I saw during my month there in which I stayed there and went to several schools to hang out during lunch because my cousin still had school and I was bored to hell so I went to his school and some of the nearby ones to hang out with the people.

I know that I have not meet every Puerto Ricon, but it's a small sountry and news/ideas get from one side of the island to the other quite fast. The island is very small, 100milesx35miles so big news/ideas is pretty hard not to know about. The majority of the schools are located in the Metropolitan area where I live and I've been to most of the schools there and know people from those schools. The rest of the schools throught the island are pretty much the same and aren't very many schools there. I know lots of people from those schools beacsue I meet them at Track Competitons and sometimes we talk about the shcools and the social system is quite similar to that at my school.

Do remember that when the population in your small country is small (3~4 million), and you are a minority in the world, you tend to stick to your race's traditions and ideas much more than if you were part of a bigger culture.