The Circle: A Fascinating Case Study of the Social Media Experience

The Circle is a social experiment made into entertaining television by examining human interaction through social media. Netflix tags the series as “scandalous” and “soapy,” and it is definitely those things, but with real depth behind it. Not since MTV’s The Real World has there been a reality show that mirrors real life so well. 

Still skeptical? I don’t blame you. 

I was firmly against The Circle as a concept when I first heard about it. Twitter: The TV Series? No, thank you. A competition show for wannabe influencers? Absolutely not. It was actually my 11-year-old son that convinced me to, at least, give it a chance. 

And I am so glad he did. Not only did I find it to be a thoroughly engaging, thought-provoking show, but it’s something we can watch together that prompts interesting, and sometimes important, parent-child discussions. My kid is growing up in a digital age, and it’s beneficial for him to see the good and the bad of social media, the positive aspects and the pitfalls. 

The Circle is a reality show for those who are wary of reality shows and social media just as much as it is for those that embrace those things. It is a compelling, cross-sectional study of the social media experience that can be consumed as both mindless and mindful entertainment and anywhere in between.

ALERT! Spoilers for The Circle Seasons 1-3 are below.

Background Check

The Circle originated in the UK with Series 1 airing in September of 2018. To date, The Circle UK has had four series, including a celebrity version for Stand Up to Cancer. The Circle US Season 1 premiered on Netflix on January 1st, 2020, followed by Seasons 2 and 3 in the Spring and Fall of 2021, hosted and narrated with witty commentary by Michelle Buteau. 

There have been other international iterations as well. France and Brazil joined The Circle family in 2020, each airing one season so far. However, all installments are filmed at the same apartment complex in Salford, England.

The contestants live in their own individual apartments and can only communicate with each other within The Circle‘s parameters. There is no face-to-face engagement, allowing the players to be any version of themselves or another identity entirely. This is the most fascinating facet of the show as it creates drama and inspires different kinds of approaches and strategies to the game.

It’s a popularity contest with a cash prize of $100,000, so the players are in it to win it. However, it’s the unwritten prizes that are the most interesting to watch the contestants claim. Real human connection, acceptance, genuine friendships, and potential romances are all attainable in The Circle, it all depends on how you play the game.

Game On!

First impressions are important. On the internet, first impressions come from profiles, and on The Circle, making a profile is the first chance the players have to put their game plan into motion.

Upon moving into their temporary homes—stylish flats equipped with photo booth-style props and things with which they can use to occupy their time—the contestants create their user profiles, choosing a photo to put their best face (real or fake) forward. 

Age, occupation, relationship status, and a bio round out the profile, and the players can be as honest or as deceptive as they want. Some choose to be completely themselves, making a profile that could work for their real-life social media accounts. Others use another identity or an alter ego, sometimes catfishing as a family member, partner, or friend. 

Not unlike Survivor, The Circle is a game of strategy as well as a popularity contest. However, conducting the competition through a social networking platform, these two aspects merge into an entirely different beast. One may be truthful and a hundred percent themselves, but lack the strategic skills or social media know-how to convince others of their authenticity.

Mini-games like Ice Breaker and Truth or Dare allow the players to get to know one another or to build on their strategy or some combination of both. Opinions and biases start to emerge, alliances begin to form, and private DMs and selective group chats shake things up.

It’s all fun and games until it comes time to rank your fellow players. Rankings determine the influencers and reveal who is not the most popular, providing vital information for continuing on in the game.

That is if you’re not blocked. The top two are given that coveted blue check on their profile and the power to send another player packing.

Sounds simple enough, right? 

Not quite. Things are rarely simple in The Circle and nothing is as it seems. 

That’s where the twists (and a lot of the shock factor) come in. Single super-influencers and double-eliminations are a couple of examples of what these twists can be. Each season brings new twists which really keep the contestants on their toes, never knowing what The Circle might throw at them. 

The blocked party is given a parting gift: the opportunity to meet with another player face-to-face. There are many factors to consider for the player making this choice. They can visit someone they feel they had a real connection with, a crush, in vengeance for voting them out, or just out of basic curiosity to know if someone is who they say they are.

Sounds (Cat)fishy

Often dubbed Catfish: The Game Show, The Circle allows contestants to compete as a catfish if they so choose.

There are varying degrees of catfishing that range from creating a full-on fake profile, using the photos of a stranger like Alex did on The Circle Season 1 to simply lying about one’s relationship status or age. It seems to be that being single and ready to mingle fares better inside The Circle—both winners from Seasons 1 and 2 were real single and fake single, respectively.

We’ve seen a wife play as her husband, a boyfriend play as his girlfriend, and a personal assistant play as her friend and employer, Lance Bass. Yes, that Lance Bass. Aside from the gender-swapping catfish, Season 3 boasts contestants playing with sexual identities as well. 

Michelle Buteau: Okay, listen up and grab a pen because we’re about see Matthew, a gay man, playing Ashley, a lesbian, flirt with Nick, a straight guy.

If that’s not wild enough, Matthew is crushing on “Daddy” Nick, so he decides that Ashley should be bisexual to make it easier for him to flirt with his heterosexual competitor. 

Buteau: Actually, make that a gay man pretending to be a lesbian who’s now pretending to be bisexual. God, I love this place.

Gender and sexuality are fluid, after all.

Matthew switches it up in order to flirt with someone he finds attractive. On the flip side is Sophia, a lesbian, playing her straight older sister, Isabella, also attempting to flirt with the straight male contestants.

Sophia as Isabella on flirting with Calvin: I hate it. 

Is your head spinning yet? Well, there’s more. 

Nick decides to play it friendly with Ashley/Matthew so he can use his precious “flirt vibes” on Isabella who he has the hots for, who is really her lesbian little sis. 

It’s like if a soap opera was a social media reality game show, and I am here for it. 

Catfish Schmatfish

Essentially it comes down to the realness of the player whether they are catfishing or not. As Ruksana from Season 3 says, “Real recognize real at the end of the day.” But, The Circle is still a game with $100,000 at stake, so being real and recognizing real can be a real challenge.

A prime example is Michelle from Season 3. She entered The Circle as herself, created an honest profile, and interacted with the others candidly and with earnest. And it resulted in her getting her identity stolen, getting blocked, and getting to be the first one to leave The Circle.

She wouldn’t have been the first to get the boot if The Circle hadn’t thrown in one of its biggest twists to date. Ava, who used her true identity but had her sister, Chanel, with her in the game, was really the first to get blocked. The sisters from the Bronx were given a second chance to stay in the game as a clone of another player.

It became a Battle of the Michelles—Blue Michelle (Ava and Chanel) versus Orange Michelle (the real Michelle)—with just 24 hours to convince the others to keep them in the game.

Being true is great, but it’s all about perception. Things people share honestly can come across as suspect and vice versa. In the end, Blue Michelle was better at being Social Media Michelle than the real one. 

Internet Friends Are Real Friends

When the players engage as their genuine selves, catfish or not, there is the opportunity for authentic human connection. Bona fide friendships form and real romance sparks.

On Season 1, Joey and Miranda, both playing as themselves, developed a flirty rapport that proved to be real when they finally met face-to-face—even sharing a farewell kiss—and continued on after the show. Joey told Esquire that the two of them are “incredibly close” while being vague on the status of a romantic relationship. “We talk all the time. The love there is so genuine and real.”

Season 3 has two catfishes that were able to relate to each other with their coming-out stories. Sophia, the lesbian playing as her straight sister, opened up to Matthew, the gay man catfishing as his lesbian best friend, about her own queerness by saying her little sister (who is herself) is a part of the LGBTQ community.

Matthew: I feel like we’re bonding here, and this isn’t even Ashley’s story, this is completely my story. Circle, message, “I grew up in a very religious family. My father nearly poured holy water on me and grabbed his bible and started reading it out loud when I came out. How was your family when your sister came out?”

Sophia is able to truly sympathize and tell him her own family’s reaction which was, thankfully, more accepting.

Sophia: It’s so weird literally talking about myself without being myself, but it feels good to kind of be me in a weird way for a moment.

The Circle is filled with drama, trickery, and awkwardness. With contestants vying for influencer status and communicating with emojis, hashtags, and internet slang, it’s easy to chalk it up as trash reality TV, but it really is so much bigger than that. There is the potential to be even more representative of society by including trans, nonbinary, and disabled contestants. I would love to see The Circle continue to expand in this way.

It is a microcosm of today’s weird, wired world, one that shows that some good things can come from social media. It reminds us that there is a real person behind that screen and that profile, and if we dig a little deeper, game show-type alliances and rivalries can turn into rewarding real-life relationships.

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Have you been watching The Circle? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The final episode of The Circle Season 3 drops on Netflix Wednesday, September 29th.

All three seasons of The Circle are currently streaming on Netflix.

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