"friends" on social networks
By qdietz
@qdietz (244)
United States
April 26, 2008 11:06pm CST
I wanted to get some opinions on what friends are on social networks. Owning a facebook, I have 154 friends. But are these people really true friends???
Looking through the list i notice I have many people I only met once that I never talked to. I also have alot of people I used to be good friends with but that moved or such, I talk to some of these people but not all.
Now I look at the definition of friend and here is what I find:
http://answers.com/topic/friend
(i cannot copy paste the definition as I do not have a rating over 500...)
To my great surprise I see that friend can also mean, an acquaintance (definition 2).
By that definition all my "friends" on facebook are friends.
I can now look at the first definition which for me is the most interesting and the most true, a person one likes and trusts. After looking through my list a good 70% go away, leaving about 45 friends.
My question is what do you consider a friend? Do you think this term has become overused and lost its initial meaning? Do you believe this is a good thing or is it more negative?
thank you very much
1 person likes this
4 responses
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
27 Apr 08
Personally even when someone looks at all the friends you will make in the time you are a member here on myLot, and many of the other sites, some of these people you will truly feel are like a friend, while there will be some you just feel are an acquaintance.
I know I got the pleasure to meet in person a dear online Friend I have had for over 10 yrs. now. I was scared it would ruin our friendship even, but it has helped in so many ways.
A lot of it is what you are looking for in them, and what you are expecting as well. Sometimes you have to change a few things in life, but if they are True friends they will stick by you forever.
@qdietz (244)
• United States
27 Apr 08
thanks for the reply, its really interesting to see how its possible to develop a strong friendship through internet. I personally am a bit laking on this side and wondered if it was possible. Thanks for the response! It gives me hope to make myself a real, true good friend that I just meet over internet.
@sisterjinx (1135)
• United States
27 Apr 08
I have a Myspace and the only people on my friends list are people I have met face to face, except maybe 3 or 4 who I met online but felt a strong connection with. All of these people are "friends" to some degree. Meaning we have something in common and I enjoy talking with them or spending time with them.
My son, who is 15, started calling this woman I met and occasionally talked with my friend and he asked if I was going to keep in touch with her via email when we moved. I explained to him that she was basically just an aquaintance and that she and I were not really "friends" because we did not have much in common nor did we enjoy spending much more than a few minutes with each other occasionally.
I think that a friend is someone you enjoy spending time with and have things in common with. The time you spend may be on IM or online in one form or another or in real life. I don't think you have to have a face to face relationship to be a friend. However, I think being friends means that you enjoy being together, can trust one another, and have something in common that you can share together.
That being said, if these people are in your friends "network" then you must trust them because most people share a great deal of themselves and their lives on these social networks. If you do not trust them then you may want to consider cutting them off of your list.
Ok, I've rambled long enough. Thank you for letting me share my humble opinion.
@qdietz (244)
• United States
27 Apr 08
I agree with you, but to bounce back on the cutting people off the social network list. The people on my friends list are people that I have met face to face with, and the information I put on these social networks are not anything secret and I guess I trust them enough to let them see my pictures and such.
But then comes in the trust issue.
When I say I trust a person it means I can tell them a secret or such and be sure that they will tell no one else and keep it to themselves.
I do not trust the people I have met once in real life and not really talked to on the social network on which they are my friends.
What matters is the extent of the trust, I believe that after a certain point, a high level of trust is essential to a friendship and that this level of trust is unobtainable before this friendship is met.
thanks for the reply!
@febinsoft (213)
• India
27 Apr 08
I am in orkut,yuwie and also in mylot. I have some of my friends in mylot. I don't have other friends. I am trying to make my own social network . I need money . So i am active here.
@keasling (723)
• United States
27 Apr 08
Has the term "friends" been overused? Yes but no. I am a part of a couple social sites and have lots of "friends" but not very many "true friends". I wouldn't say it is a negative as we get to at least know of the person. Can you imagine living without any friends weather being true friends or a casual friend? Most of my friends are online. I don't have friends that I just hang out with. I have people at work but we chit chat at work and no other places. I know I seem to be talking in circles but my online friends know more about me than the lady I work with closely 5 days a week.
