English Version | Editor's Letter: The [Un]Popular Issue

“Take the unpopular route. Use the road no one travels by. Think of doing what is uncommon but remarkable. You have absolutely nobody to overtake you on the empty road.” - Israelmore Ayivor

Photo © Carlos Teixeira

Welcome to the silly season and The [Un]Popular Issue, our summer issue – an absolutely safe zone, where unpopularity is neither judged nor devalued and where popularity can be questioned. My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. In a world of fame, followers, likes and paparazzi, we need to aspire to be something other than just popular.

Photo © Jamie Nelson

How is it that some celebrities, who the average person would believe have all the popularity a human being could ever want, still admit to feeling lonely? It’s quite naive to assume that popularity is the cure for loneliness. Loneliness is not necessarily the same as physical loneliness, it is the inability to be ourselves. Whether you try too hard to fit in or try too hard to stand out, the result is the same, you will end up with your true importance depleted. Do you really think that the fact that millions of people know your face or know your name makes you special? The desire to be famous is so common and so intense that not genuinely wanting to be famous is likely to make you famous, or at least bring a lot more coolness into your life. Popularity is grossly overrated. As someone said, it's better to have one person willing to die for us than a thousand willing to attend our funeral.

Photo © An Le

For the ancient Greeks, who were so far removed from today's social media, the only way to achieve massive popularity was to do something wonderfully worth telling. Nowadays, technology can save us all the personal hassle, because popularity may not be directly related to merit. Back then, to be known, you had to be great. Today, to be considered great, it is necessary to be known. The cyclic phenomenon of popularity is undeniable: a pattern over generations, in the most diverse areas, has been proving that what is popular today will inevitably fall into oblivion tomorrow, which turns popularity into a pedestal as fragile as paper.

Want to be popular? It's easy... allow yourself the luxury of not living according to an established norm, and love yourself for being that way.

We need more love, more humour, and above all not taking everything so seriously.

Life is not a popularity contest.

Happy silly season. 

Translated from the original in The [Un]Popular Issue, published July 2023.Full stories and credits on the print issue.