Friend.

I do not believe the word "friend" has any meaning any longer.

Think about how we use the word friend. We use it to indicate someone's picture on our Facebook profiles, and that's about it. Everywhere else, we call people "followers" and "subscribers"... why?

Because these people are not what we traditionally think of as friends. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines friend as "a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection".

Now, besides the youtube community, we do not know actually know many of the people we call friends on the internet. As much as we wish to know these people like friends, we don't. Therefore, we can't technically call these people "friends".

Now, the other and frankly more important aspect of the definition is "mutual affection".

The definition of follower: "an adherent or devotee of a particular person".
The definition of subscriber: "[a person who arranges] to receive something regularly, typically a publication".

These are one-sided actions. This is not a relationship. This is not a friendship.

Is it understandable, yet, why it pisses me off that people call their followers "friends"? You do not know them. You may have affection for them as a number that increases your subscriber count; that gets you to that coveted 100, or 20,000, or 5 million followers. But do you like them for the person that they are? Do you know every aspect of their character and still love them? Or do you love the idea of one more person carrying you to fame or importance?