Michael Phelps Wins Gold, Facebook Friends

View Story On One Page

Print This Story

Share This Story

By Matt Haber

August 11, 2008 | 10:36 a.m.

Fast Friend: Phelps

+Enlarge

Olympic gold medal-winner Michael Phelps has a few thoughts on Facebook, the social networking site beloved by teenagers and marketers everywhere. In an article by Karen Crouse from this weekend's New York Times (in the new "platform agnostic" era, it ran on August 9th on the Web and August 10th in the paper), Ms. Crouse writes:

As Phelps’s legend grows, so does his popularity. The last time he checked his Facebook page, he had more than 4,300 friends. And then there is President Bush. All of which does not impress Phelps much. All the hotheads and cold shoulders he endured as a child have inured him to celebrity’s charms.

'It’s funny,' Phelps said. 'Every now and then you get on Facebook and you have people you see and you’re like, "Wow, I went to school with them and they never said a single word to me and now they’re trying to be my friend." I think it’s funny.'