False friends

Obsessing over social media followers and likes is one thing, but actually buying them is quite another. As this New York Times article makes clear, the practice is widespread and not merely indicative of a pathetic and deep-seated desire to appear popular; in fact, for many, it's a deceitful means of implying online influence or inflating one's status and thereby securing considerable benefits.

The vast majority of those named and shamed in the article are people who already have a significant public profile, but worryingly, as Rhidian of predominantly Welsh-language food blog Dining In The Capital has pointed out, the same phenomenon can be witnessed on a local level, with certain Cardiff blaggers. It's fraud, pure and simple - but it's yet to be treated as such.