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"Finding Internet fame is just as appealing as (and far more accessible than) becoming a red carpet\u2013walking, magazine cover\u2013gracing movie star. All it takes is an expertly hashtagged Instagram, a single YouTube video gone viral, or a witty sentiment retweeted by a famous face\u2014Hollywood, web, or otherwise.\n\n According to a recent report by the Pew Research Center, teens have a median of 79 Twitter followers and 300 Facebook friends. But the near-compulsive desire to collect more\u2014especially more than your best pal, or your worst frenemy\u2014 is real. \"There's so much pressure to have the largest following on all my social media platforms,\" says Ninah, a nineteen-year-old from Texas. \"Just last week, I made fun of my friend because I had one more follower than her on Vine.\" Twenty-one-year-old Melissa of Virginia can relate: \"It's not that I feel pressure to have a sizable following on social media; I live for it.\"\n\n We feel the need to have a bustling social media presence for several reasons, from the practical (building up a professional network for the postgrad job hunt) to the competitive (accumulating more followers than the varsity cheerleading captain). High school and college students are always looking toward the future, and having thousands of social media fans can set an applicant apart from a stack of faceless r\u00E9sum\u00E9s. But plain old popularity has a lot to do with it, too. These days, it seems like it matters just as much to have a clique of click-happy followers online as it does to have a table full of friends at the school cafeteria. Eighteen-year-old Rebecca of New York admits, \"When I meet someone new, I know the thought traveling through both of our minds is, Yes! Another Instagram follower!\" Pennsylvania native Lauren, nineteen, goes to even greater lengths to increase her numbers. \"On Instagram I follow thousands of accounts\u2014 then unfollow them when they follow me back,\" she says. \"I realize it's kind of lame, but it helps me gain Likes.\"\n\n Social media can be entertaining and useful, but it can also be an anxiety inducer. When it stops being fun, it's time to log out. \"I try to not let it control my life,\" says fifteen-year-old Maddie of California. \"I just hope I can stop myself from becoming too obsessed with the refresh button.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/internet-fame>