I'm curious: When do you start considering someone a friend? Do you have to spend a lot of time together face to face? Is talking regularly enough? Or is just clicking a button on whatever social media site you use to accept a friend request enough? I ask because I overheard some young teens talking about the subject, and some considered everyone they added on facebook to be a friend, whether or not they knew them well, spoke or spent much time together. And then overheard some people in their late 30's or so who thought the same. Until then I'd never really heard of many people of any age seriously thinking that way. It made me wonder what other people think makes someone a friend. So I figured I'd ask the people of EC.
It depends. I have friends I've never met but talk everyday via text. I'm in the car business so I have a TON of Facebook friends from that that I call friends but may have only met once or twice
I have friends that I rarely see face-to-face (though none that I haven't ever met in person). We keep each other update about our lives semi-regularly (okay, not regularly at all, but once in a while). I just feel something, with certain people. It's not about how often we see each other, just how we click. There are people I haven't seen in years whom I consider friends. There are people I talk to every day that aren't friends, just casual acquaintances. I'm picky about who I accept on Facebook, but they're definitely not all friends even then, and I don't know anyone who thinks that way (but then, I tend to have a very small circle of friends). On Facebook I add acquaintances from my classes, etc.
I would consider someone a friend after clicking in person only or through other form of communication. Never consider friends request anything other than someone with a simular interest. Reason why I would say that not everyone is a friend on social media, many of them are friends of friends or just noisy people of friends...LOL Another point - really how many friends - real friends can a person have. Think with work, and other obligations probably 10-15 people you would consider good friends, great friends would be 2-3.
For me clicking a befriend button on social media is nowhere near enough! I never really got that mentality. For me to consider someone a friend, I have to talk to them a good amount. Not necessarily face-to-face, but we have to share some good conversations and/or memories. Plus I need to have known them for at least a couple of weeks or so - it would feel strange to me to call someone who I literally met last night "my new friend". If I feel comfortable enough around someone to feel fairly uninhibited personality-wise, I'd consider them a good friend. So meeting face-to-face and talking regularly aren't always necessary (they help tons, though) but I do have to feel like I know them, or at any rate feel a connection of some sort. But as already said, a lot depends on the friend in question too.
