With absolutely fuck loads of 'friends', photos of them arm in arm with these people in various clubs and the like...etc...

Do they actually count all these people as friends? How many of them do they actually 'know'? Are they just randomers they've bumped into on a night out and learnt the name of? Are they really that popular, or am I just really unpopular because I have some genuine 'friends' and then people I just like a bit?

I don't know. I just see it pretty often, and can't imagine why these certain people would really be that popular.