When do you call online/on social media sites someone a friend?

I am wondering so often which ones are the prerequisites that one person calls another person online a friend.

It is not only here, on SW... Also on Facebook and other social websites that I find again and again people who have HUNDREDS of friends and hundreds of followers.

My personal prerequisite to call someone a friend I only know online is this:
I have to know the person well. VERY well (as far this is online possible). And about a long period (at least one year or longer). And there has to be a regularly contact.
Because how shall I know a person and call a friend when there's never contact?
I just can call someone a friend whom I can trust. But how can I trust a person I rarely don't know and have contact with?

And when I look at others, at the crowds of friends tbey often have online, I am wondering/
- Do they really know all their friends THAT well?
- Do tbey really have regularly contact to all of their friends?
-Or is it just to compensate the loneliness in real life when a user can click online easily a button and he adds quickly 10, 50 or even 200 people as "friends"in that way? This is indeed a number of friends no one can get in "real life. "

A few time this has happened to me on SW, and many, many times it has happened to me on Facebook that people add me as a friend although they don't know me at all, although they've even never have interacted with me.

Or is it just a matter of different cultures? (There are certainly cultures who call someone easier "friend" than in other cultures).

But on the other site: I am not very experienced with all that online stuff. Maybe I am just too old-fashioned... 🧓 😅

Feel free to explain to me your own view of this. 🙂

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WandererTony · 56-60, M

When you choose to share a special bond like getting feed everytime he or she posts or access to page content that non friends do not have, you are an online friend. Its as shallow as that.

Let's not mistake that with real life friendship. Its just a term in online platforms to save a contact for ease of access. But then the term is used by the platform provider like Linkedin, FB, SW etc. Its just a choice of word for a contact. However, even amongst the "friends" that we have on SW, we get to know some better than others. Over time, over posts, comments, responses, arguments and light conversations. For example, I consider you a SW friend whom i know better than many others. And I read your updates and care for your well being 🙂

And yes, I stopped adding "friends" on any platform long back. I only accept or decline requests. This was I dont force myself on others. 🙂

Loretta78 · 46-50, F

@WandererTony I hear you very well . I also don't force myself on others too.

And you've made one very good point in your answer: An online friendship is not to mistake with a friendship in real life. You think so, and I think so as well.
But often I have the feeling, that many users, especially young ones and kids, do exactly this mistake: They mistake an online friendship with a real friendship...

Thanks for calling me an SW friend and especially for your detailed comment.. 🙂

I wanted to give a BC in this post. But this is not possible because there are too many good comments from different users here; so take this instead: 🏅🙂

PoetryNEmotion · F

@Loretta78 Why, online friends are real. For example, you and I share Robin. He is as real as we are. Does it matter whether we can see him in person? No. Nevertheless he is real. So is his friendship.

Loretta78 · 46-50, F

@PoetryNEmotion You've made a good point: Robin is indeed real - like you, like me, and probably like many other users here too.

And when I can call someone a friend so it's him. And his friendship is as real as mine.

But what I was trying to explain is that an online friendship nevertheless is different from a friendship in real life.

(And when I was writing all this I was thinking even not so much of Robin but especially of Facebook and also many users here who have hundreds and even thousands of friends.

Our friendship to Robin is real, as far this is online possible.

But I doubt that all hundreds and thousands friends of a user can be real. A lot of users (especially young ones and just kids) might just seek attention.

However: I think that too many people take the word "friend" too shallow.

This is certainly not me because I know when the time came to call Robin a friend... And also for you the word "friend" seems to have still a special meaning.

But I doubt that everyone thinks so deep. I guess in generally TonyWanderer is right with what he wrote in his first comment here.

And of course different users may have a different definition of the word "friend."

PoetryNEmotion · F

@Loretta78 I think you get it. Thank you for your detailed response. My closest friends here are real to me. Have a great day, Loretta.