Virtual Popularity Isn't Cool - It's Pathetic

Summary:
In "Virtual Popularity Isn't Cool - It's Pathetic" Ian Daly explains how it has become somewhat of a competition to friend as many people as possible on social media. It even goes to the extent that we feel a sense of accomplishment when we are on these sites.  He also mentions how it's become a distraction from what we should really be doing such as working or socializing in person.  He mentions several times how grown men will "hyperventilate over friend counts" (480) and act more like teenage girls rather than the grown men that they are.  Another big point Daly makes is that once you decide to join Facebook (or any social media, for that matter) your social image will be out of your control.

Response:
Daly makes a lot of accurate points in my opinion. I agree that people get overly excited over strictly cyber friendships and a lot of people take their friend count way too seriously.  People actually pay money for accounts with thousands of followers already.  Also people unfollow/unfriend people they really know so that they can have more followers than following, as if following people should be frowned upon.  However I disagree that you can't control your image on social media.  If anything you can control it too much with filters and only uploading pictures YOU want to.  People also use social media to show off what they do and where they have been. Also social media is only as much as a distraction as you make it.  There are many people that have social media accounts and are not obsessed with getting 10k friends.