Friend Me?
Thanks to Facebook, the word “friend”—a noun for centuries—has suddenly become a verb. What is friendship? How has Facebook changed our idea of friendship? What does it really mean to have 500 or 1000 “friends?” I am interested in exploring the ways in which Facebook has reframed the concept of friendship, both in practical and philosophical ways, and how this impacts us as users.
What are the psychological consequences of interacting and communicating with a mass of people?
What do we expect from our Facebook friendships?
On Facebook, people from all circles in our lives (childhood, college, work, love, neighborhood, etc.) are democratically defined as “friends,” and merge together at one virtual cocktail party. What are the implications of aggregating all of our friends? What does it mean socially and interpersonally to reintroduce people from our past into our lives today?
Do friendships have a natural expiration date that we are artificially extending as we mine our past for individuals to “friend”?
Facebook has reconnected users in remarkable ways and has undoubtedly been the catalyst for many happy reunions. But is there a way to socially modulate on Facebook? This powerful social tool, which is capable of easing isolation and traversing sometimes decades of distance with one simple friend request, can quickly become an unhealthy force in our lives.