Facebook 'friends'...

Was holding an interesting discussion today (after seeing the Facebook billboards,) about how people have become desensitised to the word 'friends'.
Friends are now people that we hardly know at all. I think it's particularly concerning that we're using a word that is considered safe by children to address people we know almost nothing about.
What's your view?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Rugar Rell

Original post by Nae

My view is you need to be quiet.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2

Faithams

Are you actually talking about facebook? Because I don't consider everyone on my facebook my 'friend', its just the term facebook uses, like those following me on twitter are not actually my followers.
If you mean in general, I'm personally quite careful about who I call my friend, I'm more likely to just say I know them if we don't have a genuine mutual relationship.

Reply 3

Truflais

I have very few people on Facebook who I wouldn't consider actual friends or family tbh.

Reply 4

rachel.h

People I'm 'friends' with on Facebook are only family and actual friends. I don't feel the need to broadcast the details of my life to people I don't know.

Reply 5

Nae

Original post by Faithams

It's definitely not everyone. But a lot of people I talk to have the idea that a basic affiliation with a person makes them a friend (whatever it is that that means to them.) It's more the younger generation that are learning the meanings of words in their everyday context and seeing that a 'friend' is just about anyone. I mean, after helping a stranger with something surely they are still a stranger, but a stranger that you helped.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 6

Nae

Original post by rachel.h

People I'm 'friends' with on Facebook are only family and actual friends. I don't feel the need to broadcast the details of my life to people I don't know.

Original post by Precious Illusions

I have very few people on Facebook who I wouldn't consider actual friends or family tbh.

Seems that you are in the minority. The billboards that I saw seemed to be suggesting that 'friend' is a loose term for anyone that you interact with. Friend means more than that to most people, but when looking at someone's friend list on Facebook it's questionable how many of these people they really know.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 7

TheTechN1304

Half of those so called 'friends' I can't stand in real life

Reply 8

matt4

Urgh, Facebook. If I could. I'd remove myself from it entirely. I'm only there for help with uni and the few useful people I want to stay in contact with.

Apart from that it makes me depressed. I hate everything about it. It's style, colour, friends who aren't really friends on your list.

Nobody on my friends list comes to my aid when I need assistance.... I'll happily help others out. FB is a place where we can all show how utterly selfish we truely are.

One day it will go down... and I won't shed a tear for Facebook.

Reply 9

Black Cat

Out of the 600 odd friends on my facebook maybe 10 are actually my real friends.

Reply 10

username677182

Are you trying to say that Ahmed Bayraktar, whom I've never met, living in Turkey, just myself and 12 other girls on his friend list. with a profile picture of a sports car...doesn't really want to be my friend, but has some sort of ulterior motive?

:zomg:

Reply 11

NJA

Do you behave the same towards people on Fb as face-to-face?

Do you find that your Fb friends do?

Is Fb friendship more interesting than real, i.e. when you are out to you or the people you are with keep checking status?

Have you read any good psychological studies of Fb behaviour?

Reply 12

xoxAngel_Kxox

I think people need three lists on Facebook.

Friends
People who have interesting profiles
People who I hate and want to make sure aren't having a good time

Reply 13

username808454

I have 12 friends, 9 of them are on my facebook friend list. I only have 11 people on my friend list.,

Reply 14

A5ko

I don't use Facebook any more. All it was riddled with was acquaintances thrusting pictures of their offspring in your face.

If I wanted to see children I'd hide in a ball pool.

Reply 15

NJA

Original post by A5ko

... All it was riddled with was acquaintances thrusting pictures of their offspring in your face..

so you've thrown out the babies with the bathwater

Reply 16

A5ko

Original post by NJA

so you've thrown out the babies with the bathwater

I have a suitably sick response to this.

Reply 17

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by Faithams

I agree

Reply 18

Smash Bandicoot

Lolwut what is Friends? What is IRL?

Reply 19

melinae

Well it'd have been weird to call them "People you know". I suppose I get what you mean but most intelligent people can distinguish between "Friends" and "Facebook Friends". It does make me laugh though when you see people with over 1000 friends who think they're really popular. Most of the people I know have friends that they added while they were playing certain facebook games back in the day when that was the 'thing' and just haven't bothered to get rid of them because of said reason.