The term Friend

Have you ever thought about the word friend. Its a word that we use so freely. Can someone on Facebook or Twitter really have 300, 400, 500 or more friends. The dictionary defines friend as "a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard" or "a favored companion". So are all these friends a person you are truly attached to or are they acquaintances. Don't we think the truth of it is that of these 300 to 500 of friends are really just that acquaintances not "friends". A friend is someone that when times are hard and even when they're not they check in on you to see how you are doing. They are truly concerned for your well being. Sure anyone can I am so sorry when they comment on Facebook or Twitter.

I hear people today that say so and so is my friend but when you begin to ask questions about this person they tend to know very little about them. They are someone they met at a party a few times or someone whom they work with or a friend of a friend. But not someone they really know and have a bond with. What would happen if you took off everyone who you are just acquaintance off your social networking account. How many friends would you really have? I would bet the numbers would drop dramatically.

Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy social networking sites. Wish I had more time to see all that was going on with friends and family and play games etc. I also understand that it is a good networking tool for jobs etc. But I guess the thing is that certain words in our culture had so much more meaning then they do now. Friends has become just another generic term for someone you know. It could be someone you met at a party, someone you work with, a neighbor that you wave to but rarely socialize with or someone you sort of knew in high school or college. But it still can mean someone who you do have a real history with.

What do you think? Have you every thought about this?

In the beginning

I decided to create this blog because I see things going on in this world and I think what the hell or boy things sure have changed.  Now some of these things may be good others bad or a mixture.  I guess it just depends on where you sit in the picture.  You'll have to decide if you agree or disagree.  Feel free to let me know.  I can't promise that I will respond but I will try to periodically.  I hope that this will at least make you think and maybe see the world in a different way.