As Melanie stated in the blog, friendship is a relationship that is an important aspect of our lives. I am further going to expand on this aspect and to begin with what a "friend" truly means to me and maybe to some others.
A "friend" to me is someone that I am comfortable with and that I can share my thoughts. Furthermore a "friend" is someone who can rely on me for the same things as mentioned above. Also a "friend" is someone who will not betray the trust that I have in her and in the context of this that I can share some of my secrets, struggles, likes, and dislikes. In addition, a "friend" is someone who has her own unique qualities and still have some things in common and treasure our uniqueness at the same time. Now that I have defined what a "friend" means to me, I would like to examine what other literary sources define "friend" as. Thefreedictionary.com defines "friend" as a person who is liked and trusted, who is an associate, who supports, and a comrade in times of struggle. It was interesting to find that in Word history a friend literally means "lover" and in the English word "friend" is actually an action word which is "to love" see this website for the full text http://www.thefreedictionary.com/friend. Also dictionary.com gives an added definition stating that there should be attraction between the individuals and they should be in good terms with each other http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/friend.
In examining the definitions of "friend" and how I actually relate with my friends in real life, I totally agree with these definitions. Do you? "Friendship" is a subjective relationship and in the way that we interact with one another.So when I study relationships online I beg to differ that love and affection can be established with someone that you have not built a relationship with "face to face". My case in point is reflected in this article that states that social networks where established primarily to connect people but consumers have stated that they were not necessarily looking for strangers http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html. My memorable friendships have been based on face to face encounters. So if I may ask what is a friend to you? And can you recall a memorable friendship and how that relationship was formed?
By Collette
Collette, I do agree with you that meaningful relationships are best conducted face to face.Yet since the emergence of social media(Facebook,Myspace,YouTube, Twitter etc.)the younger generations seem to recognize their online friends equally important as their real friends and find those relationship as meaningful.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm7fitasz3c
ReplyDeleteI personally prefer friends I can literally see and touch than those that are clicks away.
I think there are many definitions of friendship, and the variance depends completely on the person.
ReplyDeleteMy idea of a friend is someone you can call when you've had a crappy day. Someone to have a glass of wine with and laugh. Online friendships can be fulfilling, but what happens when you really need to talk, and that "friend" is offline?
I believe in the traditional means of friendship, but do recognize that many meaningful relationships have been built from a connection that started online. Even still, there needs to be some face-to-face interaction in order to really get to know someone.
The following is a video created by two girls who had started chatting online when they were young, and after 10 years, decided to meet face-to-face.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fnk1MEip-4
Ladies, I agree with all your definitions of a friend. To add to what you all said, sometimes you may feel so lonely and the world may seem like a stranger to you. The word happiness will not be anywhere near or close to you, and then you realise if there is anyone to talk to. A friend is someone who will be there for you to cry and tell your grievances and on whom you can bank upon. It does not matter the time of the day. I feel the more I see my friends face to face the greater the relationship is. The link below talks about a poem on true friendship. http://www.funsilly.com/friendpoem.html
ReplyDelete