Long-Distance Friendships

Getting to know your friends in this day in age is quite different than it was ten years ago, ten years ago you got to know your friends face-to-face and you actually knew them. Whereas in today’s time, with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram people are becoming friends with people they do not know. According to Gertrude Stein in his essay, “Friending, Ancient or Otherwise” he states, “Then there is the question of who really counts as a “friend.” In tribal societies, people develop bonds through direct, ongoing face-to-face contact. The Web eliminates that need for physical proximity, enabling people to declare friendships on the basis of otherwise flimsy connections (Stein, Par. # 14).” When making friends on social networking sites there are advantages and disadvantages to doing so, you get to know someone that has the same interest as you do, you share the same problems, and some may not have time in their life to attend social gatherings. A downside to making friends online would be is that person who they really say they are? The picture that they posted could be of a friend or someone that they do not even know, this is because they could be in fear of rejection based on their appearance. According to Crowe, in her article “Making Friends Over the Internet” she states, “Then there are drawbacks associated with making friends online. Having an online profile inevitability requires people to post photographs of themselves. However, one needs to keep this in mind that many people post ideal photographs of themselves that are completely different to the "real thing" (Crowe, par #5).” When making friends face-to-face, there is much more to being with that person, you can go out places with your friends, be affectionate with that person, and not worry if they really are who they say they are. A major advantage with making friends face-to-face would be when you have a conversation and not worrying about the body language into which the person was talking.

Cited: Crow, Leanne. "Making Friends Over the Internet." Http://ezinearticles.com/. N.p., 27 Aug. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2013. Nadell, Judith, John Langan, and Eliza A. Comodromos. "Friending, Ancient or Otherwise." The Longman Reader. New York: Longman, 2011. 356-58. Print.