Mae’s role as a perpetual ambassador for the Circle has diminished her individuality. Mae’s entire life is a carefully crafted for the camera. She has lost her ability to be her genuine self because she is hyper aware of her audience. In short, she is an actress in a show that never ends.

A symbolic representation of Mae’s dual identity as a human and a “Circle robot” can be found in the two wristbands she wears. On her left wrist she sees her heartbeat and on the right wrist “she could see what her watchers were seeing — a real time view from her lens, which allowed her to make any adjustments to the view” (Eggers, 314). On one side Mae is a human being with natural responses, emotions, and feelings but on the other side she is a spokeswoman for the Circle adjusting her life to please her audience. She looks at her life through the lens of her audience, thus literally and figuratively losing sight of herself in a non-virtual realm.

Mae is biologically human, but her behaviors are so calculated that she loses that natural and unrestrained components of living. She beings to eat and engage in all activities in moderation for “anything in excess would provoke a flurry of zings or concern” (Eggers, 330). She eats healthier, drinks less, and restrains from brash impulsive activities. She constantly looks at her watch measuring how much time she has before she needs to put on the next show for her audience. If she is simply meandering around campus she needs to be cognizant that her viewers might want her to narrate certain components of campus. Mae is always putting on a presentation and by doing so she loses those unaffected and inherent behaviors associated with being human.

The implications of Mae’s perpetual ambassador status are grave. Mae’s life of moderation makes her boring. Her interactions with her friends and family and tepid and uninteresting. Her parents nod their heads in agreement and smile politely during dinner because they fear backlash from her viewers. They have to put on a show for her viewers and it is exhausting. When Mae leaves she sees a look of relief in their eyes. Mae’s transparency also damages her relationship with Annie. They cannot discuss the tensions in their relationship out in the open so Annie is terse and hostile to Mae. Mae has to fake a bathroom emergency for her and Annie to speak candidly and even then time is limited. Mae has lost her individuality, her friends, and her family because she has now undertaken the role of full time ambassador and actress.