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> You do when you're keeping in touch with friends you've made throughout your life and not just your current ones. Your friends are the current ones. Those o

> You do when you're keeping in touch with friends you've made throughout your life and not just your current ones. Your friends are the current ones. Those other people aren't friends anymore, they're acquaintances, people you used to know but don't see anymore. Friend isn't a permanent status, it's the people you hang out with and see on a regular basis. If your only contact with a person is through facebook, they aren't your friends.

k-mcgrady 14y ago
That's highly subjective. For example, if I moved abroad the people I hung out with regularly before would still be 'friends' to me. I would still care about what's happening in their lives and Facebook is a great way to continue that relationship. To me a friend is someone, not related, that I care about. Not someone that I hang out with regularly.
brownbat 14y ago
I'm not sure how these semantic distinctions affect the argument. Replace the "friends" in his original post with "acquaintances," and his point stands. Facebook is useful as a long term rolodex.
- gnaritas 14y ago
  > Replace the "friends" in his original post with "acquaintances," and his point stands. That's changing the argument, those words mean totally different things. My point is, Facebook makes keeping in touch with acquaintances easy, but isn't necessary to keep in touch with actual friends. Friends are people you see outside of Facebook.
  - Jach 14y ago
    For less introverted people, "friend" and "acquaintance" are more-or-less synonymous. See why Facebook chose the word "friend" now? (I agree with your assessment of course, I consider them very different. My best friend doesn't even have Facebook, I only succumbed a few months ago...)
    - gnaritas 14y ago
      > For less introverted people, "friend" and "acquaintance" are more-or-less synonymous. Ask any of those less introverted people to name someone who's an acquaintance but not a friend, I bet they come up with a name showing that when pressed, they can make the distinction and do have different meanings for those words. I do not believe there are people who cannot make that distinction.
  - brownbat 14y ago
    > That's changing the argument, those words mean totally different things. Sure, you're concerned he was using "friends" too loosely. I'm saying you should give him a pass. It's of course up to you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity
joeblubaugh 14y ago
You know what? You don't get to decide who people's friends are. 30 years ago people had all kinds of friends they only got to communicate with on the phone and through letters. Non-face-to-face friendships (and romantic relationships) have existed since we had semi-reliable postal services. People happen to find things like Twitter & Facebook really helpful in this regard.
- gnaritas 14y ago
  I'm not telling anyone who their friends are, I'm telling you you're using the English language sloppily if everyone in your Facebook you really consider a "friend". You've devalued the word to nearly meaninglessness. Everyone you've ever met is not your friend. Everyone you've had a friendly conversation with and looked up on Facebook is not your friend.
  - abduhl 14y ago
    This is a ridiculous argument. There are plenty of people I see every day that I would consider, at best, an acquaintance. There is also a very small group of people that I see maybe once or twice a year that I would consider friends. Your definition of friendship is outrageously shallow and is contrary to any other definition I have heard.
    - gnaritas 14y ago
      > There are plenty of people I see every day that I would consider, at best, an acquaintance. Ditto, where did I say seeing someone every day made them a friend? If it's this "it's the people you hang out with and see on a regular basis" that wasn't meant to qualify everyone you see daily as a friend. > There is also a very small group of people that I see maybe once or twice a year that I would consider friends. But you see them, which is my point. If your only contact with them is on Facebook, and losing Facebook would end your contact with them; they aren't your friends. > Your definition of friendship is outrageously shallow and is contrary to any other definition I have heard. I don't think you've understand what I'm saying well enough to say what my definition is since you've gotten it so clearly wrong.
jessedhillon 14y ago
And who says nerds don't understand other people?

k-mcgrady 14y ago

That's highly subjective. For example, if I moved abroad the people I hung out with regularly before would still be 'friends' to me. I would still care about what's happening in their lives and Facebook is a great way to continue that relationship. To me a friend is someone, not related, that I care about. Not someone that I hang out with regularly.

brownbat 14y ago

I'm not sure how these semantic distinctions affect the argument. Replace the "friends" in his original post with "acquaintances," and his point stands. Facebook is useful as a long term rolodex.

gnaritas 14y ago
> Replace the "friends" in his original post with "acquaintances," and his point stands. That's changing the argument, those words mean totally different things. My point is, Facebook makes keeping in touch with acquaintances easy, but isn't necessary to keep in touch with actual friends. Friends are people you see outside of Facebook.
- Jach 14y ago
  For less introverted people, "friend" and "acquaintance" are more-or-less synonymous. See why Facebook chose the word "friend" now? (I agree with your assessment of course, I consider them very different. My best friend doesn't even have Facebook, I only succumbed a few months ago...)
  - gnaritas 14y ago
    > For less introverted people, "friend" and "acquaintance" are more-or-less synonymous. Ask any of those less introverted people to name someone who's an acquaintance but not a friend, I bet they come up with a name showing that when pressed, they can make the distinction and do have different meanings for those words. I do not believe there are people who cannot make that distinction.
- brownbat 14y ago
  > That's changing the argument, those words mean totally different things. Sure, you're concerned he was using "friends" too loosely. I'm saying you should give him a pass. It's of course up to you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity

joeblubaugh 14y ago

You know what? You don't get to decide who people's friends are. 30 years ago people had all kinds of friends they only got to communicate with on the phone and through letters. Non-face-to-face friendships (and romantic relationships) have existed since we had semi-reliable postal services. People happen to find things like Twitter & Facebook really helpful in this regard.

gnaritas 14y ago
I'm not telling anyone who their friends are, I'm telling you you're using the English language sloppily if everyone in your Facebook you really consider a "friend". You've devalued the word to nearly meaninglessness. Everyone you've ever met is not your friend. Everyone you've had a friendly conversation with and looked up on Facebook is not your friend.
- abduhl 14y ago
  This is a ridiculous argument. There are plenty of people I see every day that I would consider, at best, an acquaintance. There is also a very small group of people that I see maybe once or twice a year that I would consider friends. Your definition of friendship is outrageously shallow and is contrary to any other definition I have heard.
  - gnaritas 14y ago
    > There are plenty of people I see every day that I would consider, at best, an acquaintance. Ditto, where did I say seeing someone every day made them a friend? If it's this "it's the people you hang out with and see on a regular basis" that wasn't meant to qualify everyone you see daily as a friend. > There is also a very small group of people that I see maybe once or twice a year that I would consider friends. But you see them, which is my point. If your only contact with them is on Facebook, and losing Facebook would end your contact with them; they aren't your friends. > Your definition of friendship is outrageously shallow and is contrary to any other definition I have heard. I don't think you've understand what I'm saying well enough to say what my definition is since you've gotten it so clearly wrong.

jessedhillon 14y ago

And who says nerds don't understand other people?