I get the point about having a "successful" looking image on your sites. I believe more plays does affect some people into thinking the music is "better" or that musician grinds harder.
The social media numbers game is a fad, imo. There's gonna be a day when musicians look back at us and laugh. Like, "they actually thought more online followers meant their music was better. Hysterical!"
I keep thinking back to artists from the past like Miles Davis, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix... Imagine telling them that in order to get noticed by a label or even be taken seriously by the public, they'd need to spend hours on their asses in front of a computer finding clever ways to gain "followers", "likes" and shit like that. They'd either laugh or cry.