The Perfect Amount of Online Presence

It has become a common habit to base our opinions of others on their social media profiles and presence. How one presents themselves on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram is regarded as highly important nowadays. However, some people view social media as senseless, and thus choose to have very little or no online presence. Those who retract from using social media, unfortunately can face social rejection, judgment, and even slight isolation. Eggers shows different sides of these effects in The Circle through Mae’s relationship with Mercer, Francis, and Kalden. Mae’s three potential romantic interests are all very distinct, and they are used to depict Mae’s growing obsession with the online world.

Mae’s relationship with Mercer displays her frustrations with people who are not accustomed to technology. Mercer is Mae’s ex-boyfriend from college, who lives in the same town they grew up in, and is extremely opposed to many of The Circle’s objectives. As Mae’s career at The Circle develops, she is more and more disgusted with Mercer’s lack of knowledge on technology. She sees Mercer as being anti-social, while he claims that many technological advances interfere with face-to-face communication and they “manufacture unnaturally extreme social needs” (134). An interesting aspect of the bitterness growing between the two characters is that Mae begins to find Mercer physically unattractive and she notices his flaws the more she becomes obsessed with technology. This relates to the discussion on reddit regarding the initially flirty girl’s significant change in interest upon discovering the man’s lack of social media profiles. When the man tells her that he does not have a Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, the girl is taken aback and her attraction seems so fade almost instantly. This is very similar to how Mae reacts to Mercer being so strongly against social media.

Francis, another one of Mae’s romantic interests, is very unlike Mercer. Francis has a high status at The Circle and he is extremely in favor of using and expanding technology. He is a very awkward person, and the reader is led to wonder why Mae is even attracted to him. Possible explanations for her interest in Francis are that he, unlike Mercer, is an open book. This is very refreshing to her, as all of his information is laid out and available to find online. While Mae shows interest in Francis, it is clear that she does not like him naturally. She wants to connect with hum, but this is simply not the case. In Mae and Francis’ relationship, Eggers may be hinting that being overly predictable from revealing online profiles is not an ideal way to get to know someone.

Mae’s third romantic relationship is with Kalden. Kalden, unlike Francis, is very mysterious. He intrigues and challenges Mae, who describes him as “different, atonal, and strange, but not unpleasant” (95). Kalden stands out at The Circle, because he acts very real, and is not overly nice, as many of Mae’s coworkers are. Part of Mae’s fascination with Kalden is that she cannot locate him online, and is even unsure what his position is at The Circle. Therefore, Mae feels the need to hunt him down online, and consequently, her interest in him pervades. In depicting Mae’s relationships with three completely different men, Eggers is able to show that an overwhelming presence online is deteriorating, but that being entirely disconnected from technology and social media is no longer accepted. In regards to the man who made the post on reddit, Eggers would likely suggest him to have some presence online, but not to be an open book, like Francis.

3 thoughts on “The Perfect Amount of Online Presence”

  1. Having a presence online should act as a supplement to your personality or your life, not as a crutch. Too often I see people I know essentially dump their entire life on Social Media to the point where if something terrible where to happen, Twitter or Snapchat would be the first to know as opposed to the proper authorities. A friend of mine had gotten into a minor fender bender, and decided to take to Twitter and Snapchat before calling the police, which I thought was very odd. However, those who outright reject an online presence can seem very curmudgeonly and its almost as if they reject the change for the sake of rejecting it. So it’s up to the individual to find the right balance.

    1. I completely agree. Nowadays, having some kind of presence online is almost necessary for social purposes. But many people are too fixated on this aspect of their lives, and it is very unhealthy.

  2. I really found that whole reddit chain interesting too. There are so many different opinions on how we should operate our social lives. Clearly, there seems to be no right way. I have multiple social networking accounts, but rarely use them. I prefer just to have them to see what everyone else is doing.

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