What is Friendship?

[Baysiderulez]

Hello All,

So I'm curious, how you all define "friendship" and what makes a friend different from an acquaintance. While it may seem like a simple answer at first, I think there are some rather small details that go into defining the difference between friend and acquaintance, perhaps one could even go into saying there's a difference between best friend, friend, and acquaintance.

Anyways, I'm curious about what you have to say about all these different relationship roles, and look forward to reading your replies.

 

[Ventus]

You know, the more I think of it, there is very little difference which distinquishes "friend" from "acquaintance". People tend to trust friends more than they do acquaintances, but a friend is just as likely to not come through for you as an acqui is.

I suppose someone knows a bit more about a friend than they do an acquaintance; they might know a lot of things about each other, but not necessarily DEEP things. With an acquaintance, one may know their name and maybe one or two things about them, but they aren't as "invested" in the acqui as the friend (meaning, they don't trust them as much due to a lack of understanding of the acqui).

 

[Beauts]

I think a friend is someone who you have spent a lot of time with, so you trust each other, enjoy each other's company and have a mutual respect which you wouldn't necessarily have with just an acquaintance.

 

[Mercedes]

Trust I'd say is the key factor, and familiarity I'd say. Like, the things you talk about. I trust a friend, I know them, am familiar with them, and I know what they will or will not talk about or find offensive or find funny, so I can talk more openly with them, and there's more freedom since they'll accept stuff about you. Whereas with just an acquaintance I'll always be more careful with what's said, you don't really know their views and stuff, and there's no bond.

And, I'd say a friend is someone I want to spend time with. I like being around my friends, doing something or doing nothing.

 

[Clank]

This is all my opinion, read at your own risk.

At least for me, friendship is a serious matter, if someone is truly my friend, then I trust them completely, I generally want to have something in common, but that's really optional.

The second key element is love, for me that is a important, as I may trust someone, but without love, what do I have?

I believe that the real keys are trust and love, if I completely trust them, then I feel that they will do anything for me and if I truly love them then I will do anything for them.

Again this is just my opinion, and most people here probably disagree with it, and I don't care if you do.

 

[misskitten]

An aquaintance to me is someone I may occasionally socialize with for some reason or another, but who I don't have any expectations towards. I don't expect them to give me support in any way shape or form, I don't expect them to consider me in any way, we just occasionally bump into one another and spend an hour or two catching up. Some people I consider aquaintances because we don't really have much in common to glue us together (like people I have worked with or gone to school with - people that I get along with, but who I don't socialize with outside of school, work or other structured social settings), some I consider aquaintances because I know I can't rely on them for more than that (one of them was someone I practically grew up with, but who always treated me as last resort friend - she eventually grew up, and we do get along now the occasional time we talk or spend time together, but I know I will never completely trust her, so I can never again consider her as anything more than a mere aquaintance), or someone that I get along with, but neither one of us make any conscious effort towards spending time together (like friends of friends, who I only see whenever we gather as a group).

A friend is someone I have things in common with and enjoy spending time with, who I know I can count on, who genuinely appreciates me for who I am and vice versa. Trust is important to me, and in order for me to call someone a friend, I need to trust them completely.

 

[Magatha]

Friendship is Magic! Ok, here is a more serious answer. But that is the first thing I thought of.

A friend to me is someone I care about, and would go out of my way to help or cheer up.

I don't know exactly how I pick my friends, but once my brain decides that they are one, they pretty much stay one for good.
In 4th grade I switched schools, so on the first day as soon as I got there I saw a cute girl named Amanda(Not mandym, but I'll get to her in a minute...) and instantly decided that she was to be my new best friend before I even said a word to her. I just sat down and blurted out "HI MY NAME IS MAGGIE! Can I sit here? WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" Oddly enough I am normally a fairly shy person, but in this case I was not.

In 6th grade, I met my current best friend, another Amanda(mandym). I think we became such good friends from a combination of being picked on by the same person and sharing a bunch of the same hobbies, including spending recess every day looking for either fossils or 4 leaf clovers. And we found hundreds of them. I joined here and facebook because she asked me to.

I don't think friendship can be defined by any one characteristic. It helps to have similar interests, but in the end, I think the key is that you get along and enjoy each other's company.
I don't define friendship by anything else, really. I would consider my 92 year old grandfather to be my friend because I enjoy sitting with him and talking about collecting coins and growing tomatoes. Friends are people I trust and care about.

 

[Rocky]

Friendship is more of a serious relationship with someone. You need trust, love, honesty, and communication to get a friendship going, trust being the most important out of all those. Friends also tend to have things in common and can easily confide in each other. No matter what you will support one another and give each other good advice. A good way of putting things, they're the main characters in your life's story.

Acquaintances, on the other hand, are just secondary or minor characters. They might be the person you sit next to in class. They might be cool and all, but you just don't click with them, and you guys might just talk to each other about homework or whatever. He or she might also be your coworker. They might cover a couple shifts for you, but they won't take any time to get to know you and go out with you on their spare time. You just don't click with them. There's some to absolutely no trust, no love, and limited communication. A couple years down the line, you will probably never see them again. They are just a filler to a chapter in your life.

 

[Aurelia]

As mentioned above, friendship to me is a lot more than just "hanging out" with someone, or someone who has the same common interests as you. A friendship is a bond that has developed over time between two or more people and they have dedicated their time into someone that they wish will become stronger over time.

Friendship is possibly one of the greatest things that can happen. Developing stands of interest, creating memories that you share, it is one thing a person cannot go out doing with. Everyone needs a friend in their life, let it be a "best" friend or a "B.F.F" deal, it is just wonderful to have someone who you call a friend who gets you.

 

[Baysiderulez]

My definition is somewhat different for friendship I suppose, it shares many of the same characteristics as mentioned previously such as getting to know eachother, having (but not necessary) common interests, trust, and creating memories...

To me the big difference between an acquaintance and a friend is the creating memories part. I have worked in a fairly dangerous work environments over the years and so trusting my coworkers whether I like them or not has been a necessary feature. (I at least know that they have had the training, and should have the brains to come help me should a violent client target me) So I would say there can be trust within acquaintences.

Memories is what creates the bond. Sharing experiences, sharing dreams, hopes, pitfalls, ect. One of the things I have found in unfulfilled friendships is when this memory part is lacking. A friend takes an interest in your life, you take an interest in their life, you do your best to remember it (and they do the same) and add it to the life story between the two of you.

 

[Dan]

My definition of friendship is simple, there is no such thing as friendship and it's just another ploy people use to survive the oh so "terrible" meaningless life!
Just like love it seems friendship gets tossed away more often than your grandfathers soiled laundry. People rely on others and make friends just because they are nothing more than weak pieces of toilet paper, and I'm talking extra thin. Friends often want want want, if I wanted to have leeches sucking my blood I'd jump into the nearest lake. So many "friends" will turn against you the minute something may be out of line, rather than asking you if something is true or not. Honestly friendship is a joke for the most part, and you only truly will have one or two real friends, I'm sick of seeing the words love and friendship thrown around like a childrens toy, my advice is grow up and learn you are just a meaningless pile of atoms like everyone else, and you aren't special like your friend or love one says, they are just telling you that because they want to keep you, just like their special car.

If anything I actually think I prefer acquaintances, especially is they can acknowledge they are acquaintances, we can get on with one another, chat about shizzle that doesn't really matter just to make time past quicker, we don't expect anything from one another.

 

[Ventus]

I have worked in a fairly dangerous work environments over the years and so trusting my coworkers whether I like them or not has been a necessary feature. (I at least know that they have had the training, and should have the brains to come help me should a violent client target me) So I would say there can be trust within acquaintences.

But see, the kind of trust with acquiantances is merely to get the job done; they don't care about you and never will until you reach "friendship" level. They trust you to help them make money and not get fired, not about your wellbeing. A friend may care about your well-being however. If they don't, they're acquaintances in my book.