When Do You Consider Someone a Friend
Let's Discuss
A family member recently started attending networking events for their new business. In these events, one meets new people with other businesses to build rapport and be able to refer clients or provide services when needed. While texting, she frequently said things like, “My friend stopped by,” or, “I’m doing this event with my friend.” And that took me by surprise because outside of our family or coworkers, this family member doesn’t hang out with many people.
One night, my family and I were hanging out at her place, and I brought up the topic of friendship. I asked everyone when they consider someone their friend. Because to me, the people my family member was hanging out with weren’t her friends yet; they were more like acquaintances. The question started a discussion because, apparently, another family member had been going through the same thing, saying that someone is their friend as soon as they met them.
At the end of the discussion, it was concluded that we all had different definitions of what a friend is or when we consider someone our friend. To me, a friend is someone you’ve known for years or have a connection with, someone you can trust and know they will be there if you need anything. I don’t think I’ve ever called someone I recently met a friend, and it has taken months or even years to do that. I can be friendly with many people, but to call someone my friend takes a lot; I don’t call just anyone a friend.
This brought me to what I love to do: get other people’s opinions about the topic, so I asked my followers on Instagram. And I had some interesting results.
The question was the same: when do you consider someone a friend?
This has also happened to me; I’ve met some people, and we have instantly connected but still didn’t call them friends right away.
I loved this response; they have categorized their friendships. And they mentioned coworkers - which is another question/discussion I want to bring up: do you consider your coworkers your friends? We can save this one for another time, LOL.
I would love to know your opinion and keep the discussion going. You can leave a comment on this post or respond directly to this email! Let me know your thoughts.
With Love, Heidy
P.S. If you need a copywriter for writing services or are looking to launch a podcast – let’s get in touch; I want to create with you!
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I love this question. I have a long answer to this question, but my short answer is: I usually call everyone I've ever met "friend" because it's simpler and warmer than saying "acquaintance." ;)