When thinking about social media the first thing that may come to mind is a platform to which people can interact with others (whether friends, family or even strangers). Yet with the advances social how does it affect people? A good example can be seen in The Circle when introduced to the company which is very focused on social media. Mae, the main focus, gets hired by the company though at the beginning she does not appear to be affected by social media too much. An example of this is the relationship with her parents not yet faced with the overwhelming need to be open to everyone. But the further she becomes involved with the company she lowly begins to change with how she is pushed into the social media inside the Circle. The first major change is when Mae is made to sign multiple documents, which she did not read, given new equipment  and makes an account on TruYou. Things start to get out of hand as the Circle is heavily based on social media with interactions online, knowing your location and also sharing (such as music, commenting on things such as food or locations, etc.). At one point Mae left her phone unattended and received 11 missed messages from Annie one of which read:

Tenth: Just checked and see that you're back at your desk. Call me this instant or we're through. I thought we were friends. (Eggers 104)

However from this moment it starts to go downhill when Mae goes on a date with Francis, which ends up being ruined by the introduction of LuvLuv. Francis volunteered to show how LuvLuv worked, but in the process made Mae extremely embarrassed. She even starts to question herself as seen with this quote  “So what had so mortified her during Gus's presentation? She couldn't put her finger on it. Was it only the surprise of it? Was it the pinpoint accuracy of the algorithms? ” (Eggers 125). Though in the movie, Francis isn't shown at all nor is he even there to build this development in Mae. Despite this it isn't the worst thing in the book when we are introduced to Seechange. It might not be bad at first, but during the presentation Baily brings up live feed of his mother's home. She did not want cameras in her home, but he went against her wishes and did so anyway, leading an audience to see her wearing a towel. With how small the Seechange cameras are, it’s quite easy to use them to spy on people without them knowing. 

Even later on the book gives two more embarrassing scenes that end up being recorded. The first being with Mae and Francis, which Mae asks him to delete the recording but he refuses. Then a second time with Mae’s parents after Mae becomes transparent after her kayaking incident (which was caught with a Seechange camera). These are merely small things that show Mae that privacy is important, though ends up eventually brushing that uncomfortable emotion aside as the story continues. Except in the movie this lack of reaction is taken away with Mae having watched her parents through a camera on the TV in her dorm room. Her parents completely unaware compared to in the book of Mae witnessing it in person. Moving on it becomes forgotten by other events that take place. The biggest one being PastPerfect which led to a very deep conversation between Annie and Mae. It is revealed that Annie’s parents watched someone die, but proceeded to walk away without calling for help. This is the one moment where Mae wanted to protect Annie yet proceeded to tell her follower’s to not change what they think of Annie, but the comments were seen to be negative against Annie against what Mae had intended. Cut to the presentation of SoulSearch, the ultimate search tool. Here we are shown Fiona Highbridge, a fugitive, who had starved her children and escaped prison by seducing a guard. However looking at SoulSearch was more like finding Waldo, and there was encouragement from Mae and the audience during this ‘search’ to find her. After she was found Mae decided to give it a second go however the target was Mercer, her ex-boyfriend. Mercer, when seen, was against the changes Mae was showing alongside the social media she was apart of. It was mentioned by Mae that he and her parents were behind the times in regards to technology. Mercer decided to move up North to get away from the changes taking place, but with the SoulSearch it would prove futile. Even when he is found and tries to flee it was pointless before eventually losing his life trying to get away. After this point feels like something snaps in Mae, but she is unable to process it. As over the course of the story, her life has revolved around sharing every little detail on social media. To a point where she isn’t the same person from when she’s first introduced.

After this event we are shown the identity of Kalden who is actually Ty from the Three Wise Men. Ty is trying to stop the Circle from closing. But at this point Mae is too far gone as she tells Ty to go live in the woods, however when pointed out it is not working for Mercer during the SoulSearch. But as they talk, there is a point where Mae says: “You really sound like Mercer. This kind of paranoia—” (Eggers 481) which shows how unaware she is of everything happening. As if everyone being tracked is fine, like she had not been the cause of Mercer’s death. As Ty admits he is scared and when asking Mae if she is as well, she merely tells him he lost a step. He continues to try persuading her to all the harm that can happen if the Circle is complete, which Mae listens and finally agrees at the end of Book II. And at the end of Book III, which isn’t long, she reveals Kalden being Ty and what he told her before turning him in by telling Stenton and Baily. Compared to in the movie this scene isn't shown at the end however I believe the scene between them happens earlier on in the movie.

But despite this in end we no longer see Mae as she was when first joining the company. Being startled by a high school photo during an elevator ride, to seeing her office space, and the interactions with Annie and her parents. Such aspects are taken away in the movie and replaced with seeing how others become affected terribly by the developing social media. Leading us to have someone who is deprived of any concern of privacy and only focused on transparency believing the world deserved nothing less as seen in the book. In the movie there are some changes where Mae becomes a bit more aware of the affects social has with Annie having gone back to Scotland in the movie whereas in the book she was in a coma. In either scenario The person that Mae once was no longer has those who truly care for her, for her own self, and rather focused on views and being transparent. The price being the loss of friendships, love and of her own parents so that way she can continue to please her followers for the days to come.