Part of this is determined by our own attitudes. “Interesting” can be
calamitous, “popular” can be taxing and “boring” can be depressing.
If every state of being is inherently value-neutral, then these states
only absorb the values we apply to them.

Some people want to stand out, others don't. Whatever your choice, do it well.

Ah, but here's the rub. What if you want to be neither interesting or popular.

Interesting brings to mind the purported Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times.” Keep in mind, being interesting doesn't necessarily make friends as they may decline experiencing with you yet another avalanche or kitchen explosion.

Popular on the other hand is a lot of work to maintain as you are subject to everyone's expectations and have no time to be yourself. For women, it's even more work as you are expected to be in perfect shape and perky at all times.

Boring anonymity is so much more desirable if people really understand how freeing it is.

But there's another shade to that observation: most people are also
lazy. Or, maybe more charitably, most people are so bombarded by
potentially useless information that they (sub)consciously seek the
path of least resistance, so they don't invest too much time and
effort in something that turns out to be unfulfilling.

Obscure British sitcoms? Hard to wrap one's head around, may not be
worth the effort. Obsequious American sitcoms that cater to the
lowest common denominator? Also probably not worth the effort, but at
least the effort on the part of the consumer is minimal.

Being interesting usually means it takes above-average effort to
appreciate something, and that's not a benefit of the doubt most
modern audiences seem willing to give.

Like the previous commenters addressed, things can still be interesting and popular, just as people can, but it seems more interesting and exciting when no one knows about it.

Thanks for posting this!

To achieve these levels of popularity, it's tough to also be interesting; interesting appeals to intelligence. The majority of the population is not this.

If all else fails, add kittens + captions.

We really don't learn much if we surround ourselves with people we consider boring. Of course, you *can* learn something from everyone, even if it's how not to do something.

Also, you can't always reach the ones you find interesting, because no matter how interesting you find them….they might not share the same interest in/as you.

I'd much rather be interesting or have something to share that makes interacting with me interesting or knowledgeable so the person that shares time with me comes away with something valuable to them.