Measuring popularity with "likes," does it really show someone's impact?

Likes and followers

became a public way
to measure popularity.

It's true that popular and shy people
have always existed.

Remember elementary school
and high school.

But it was implicit before.

Now, we can measure it.
And it's visible for everyone.

Everyone knows that so-and-so
has more followers

and that what's-his-name
liked this guy's post but not yours.

Everyone knows that you're not popular,
that you don't have followers or likes.

And this, especially for teenagers,

for whom self-esteem and identity
are crucial,

is terrible.

Those of us who used to be shy

know how hard it was
to not be popular in high school.

But now, this is visible.

And it leads to harmful motivations,
like trying to gain followers at any cost.

Some teenagers have died

while trying to take a selfie
at the top a cliff.

They find motivation
in doing such reckless things

in order to escape the crisis

that stems from not having
enough likes or followers.