It almost feels too crass to write down, like an archaic early 2000s high-school movie where only “pretty girls” sit at the popular table. And yet, over the past month, some TikTok creators have expressed a desire for high-value, transactional friendships, where being “aesthetically pleasing” is a necessity. Whether made ironically or in harmless fun, the #prettyfriendgroup and #baddiefriend hashtags have many videos from fun, fashionable and, objectively attractive folk who fraternize with people who fulfill a similar brief. And the result is very good social media content. But given my top requirement for friendships these days is basically just “do you like memes?” I have to ask…is everyone OK?
