Floaters; The Misconsception

"Floaters, better grab a life vest!"

 Sound familiar? And I know that voice in your brain -you know, the one that vocalizes internally the words you're reading- suddenly took on the shrill shriek held by a certain red-headed Big Brother winner, none other than the infamous Rachel Reilly. She did not originate the term floater, and as far as I know she doesn't claim to (the word was first used in the context of BB, correct me if I am wrong, in BB3 or BB4) however she is probably the spokeswoman for the "Floater's Do Not Deserve To Win Big Brother Campaign". She says a floater is someone who cannot win any competitions, runs to the person who is in power at the time, and slips through the cracks to the end of the game. I disagree. Let's look at the facts.

Google defines a floater as:
1) A person or thing that floats, in particular.
2) An insurance policy covering loss of articles without specifying a location.

Hmmmm, definition 1 could be mildly scratching the surface. However, neither definition seems to fit, so I had to find an alternate source.

Urban Dictionary defines a floater as:
1) Fecal matter that refuses to be flushed.
2) A social mastermind who wavers between members of one particular clique or between multiple cliques in general, pitting people against one another and leeching out information without seeming like a threat. A perfected floater will appear incredibly trustworthy and neutral and will play both sides, but in reality, floaters look out for themselves and do whatever possible to keep themselves alive in any given scenario.

 Ding, ding ding! And there it is folks, this is exactly how the term "floater" was created to describe, and I'm not just talking about definition 1. Doesn't this sound like most of the former Big Brother winners? Even the greats. The "legendary" Dr. Will Kirby? My guilty pleasure, Jun Song? All-Stars winner, Mike Boogie Malin? CBS's favorite Houseguest to forget, Adam Jasinski? The mystifying Dan Gheesling? Of course the social butterfly Jordan Lloyd. And, most recently, sneaky Andy Herren. I see the two winners considered to be the best Big Brother players of all times match this definition of a floater. So is it really such a bad thing? The power of a strong social game has been forgotten by some people, and I think its time we drop the negative stigma associated with being a floater. Floaters, keep floating!